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JEAX BAPTISTS DE LA SALLE. 



w 



THE 



LIFE AND WORK 



OF THX 



rvJ'Tn^ \ 



VEN. JfB: DE LA SALLE, 



THE FOUNDER OF THE INSTITUTE OF THE 
BROTHERS OF THE CHRISTIAN SCHOOLS. 



F. C. N. 



*^^ 



D. & J. SADLIER & Couif 

New York: MoictreaL: 

31 BARCi^AY STRBET. 275 NOTRE DAMK STREET. 

1883. 




^^v^^ 



ENTERED, ACCORDING TO ACT OF CONGRESS, IN THE YEAR 1878, BY 

John P. Murphy, 

IN THE OFFICE OF THE LIBRARIAN OF CONGRESS AT WASHINGTON. 



stereotyped and printed 

At The Boys' Protectory 

West Chester, N. Y. 



f 8210 



PROTESTATION. 

If, in the course of this narrative, we give the title Saint to 
the Venerable de La Salle, or to other persons mentioned 
therein, it is merely to use the expression ordinarily received 
among the faithful, who at times apply this term to persons 
whose piety is universally acknowledged. We have no inten- 
tion to forestall the judgment of the Sovereign Pontiflf, to 
whom we humbly submit our sentiments, our writings and 
our person. 



PREFACE. 

The present Life does not pretend to be exhaustive. It is merely 
a sketch. It is only in the English language that there is any lack 
of biographies of the Venerable de La Salle. But many of those written 
take partial views of their subject. Some consider only the saint en- 
during suffering and persecution for the greater honor and glory of God, 
and for the good of souls. Others look but to the mere human side 
of his character, and dwell solely upon the achievements of the great 
educational reformer. 

The writer's is a different view. To his mind the great educator was 
so successful, because he was also a great saint. The one trait is 
inseparable from the other. Had he been less holy, the work would 
have produced less fruit. In the following pages, while it is sought to 
do justice to the educator, the saint is not lost sight of. With what 
success, it is left to the reader to determine. 

In preparing the work, the following Lives have been consulted : 

ViedeM, Jean-Baptiste de La Salle, 2 \o\s. 4to. (l733),/tfrP. Blain, 

La Vie de M, de La Salle^ Instituteur des Frh^es des Ecoles Chri" 
tiennesj par M, r A bb§ de Montis, Paris, 1785. 321 pp. 

Vie de M. de La Salle, par P, Garreau, S, J, 1750. 

Vie du Vinirable y, B. de La Salle, Fondateur des Ecoles ChfStiennes, 
par L. Ayma, pp. 432. Deuxi^me Sdition, Aix, 1858. 

LAbbS de La Salle et VInstitut des Frhres des Ecoles Chriiiennes, 
Depuis, 1651. Jusqu'en, 1842. 

Par un Professeur de rUniversitS. 198 pp. Paris, 1842. 
Vie du Vinirable J, B, de La Salle, Fondateur des Frires des Ecoles 
CkrStiennes, Suivre de VHistoire de cet Institute Jusqu^a 1 734. Par un 
Frere des Ecoles Chriiiennes, 500 pp. Rouen, 1874. 



vi PREFACfi. 

ITistoire du Venerahle yean-BaptisU de La Salle, Fondateur de 
rinstitut des Freres des Ecoles Chritiennes, par Armand RaveUU 
496 pp. Paris, 1874. 

La Vie de Monsieur yean-Baptiste de La Salle ^ par le R. P. D. Fra9^ 
cois E, Maillefer, PrL R, Bn, de la Congregation de St Maur^ a 
Rheims, 1766. (This life is in manuscript; there are but six or eight 
copies extant.) 

Leben J. B, de La Sallen, von Jos. Aloys Krebs, C. SS. R. 

I^e Monument du Venerable yean-Baptiste de La Salle, Rouen, Fit4 
du 2 yuin, 1875. Deuxieme edition^ 256 pp. Par y, ChantreL 

(Euvre des Ecoles, par L. Ay ma, Aix, 1859. 312 pp. 

Vie du Frere Philippe, par M, Poujoulatj 1875. 376 pp. 

Also many documents in the archives of the mother-house in Paris, 
and several papers we had previously published on kindred subjects. 



INTRODUCTION. 



The Venerable John Baptist de La Salle has many claims 
upon the attention of the rea'ding world. He was a holy man, 
who practised virtue in a heroic degree. The study of such a 
soul must be elevating and invigorating. It is a soul that has 
soared upon the wings of heavenward aspirations above the 
level of humanity ; it is an example worthy of admiration : and 
who knows but that, from admiring, God may inspire the 
reader to imitate its noble career ? This were certainly a 
grace worth praying for. When one becomes so saturated 
with the Spirit of God that he snaps all the ties that bind him 
to the things of earth, and lives only for heaven, his is neces- 
sarily a glorious and successful career. The world may pro- 
nounce it a failure, and to all seeming it may be so ; but it is 
the reverse. The good has been done, the seed has been 
sown, and in due time Providence will draw out plant and 
fruit. The work cannot remain barren, for it has been blessed. 
Such is one of the numerous lessons written upon the face of 
the life sketched in the present volume. We see therein a 
man who runs counter to the ways and maxims of the world ; 
who abandons his wealth to the poor, and becomes one of 
themselves, that he may the better do good among them ; who 
leaves the high road to preferment and renown, that he may 
be ignored ; and withal, a man whose existence has been a 
benediction to millions, and whose career has been made 
resplendent by the accumulating gratitude of two centuries. 
The principle of action animating such a life is worthy of our 
most diligent research. The high moral qualities that sup- 
ported it ought not to be left unstudied. We find before us a 
man of iron will, overcoming obstacles numerous and difficult ; 
a man of faith, receiving successes and disappointments, 
patronage and persecution, as so many blessings coming from 
the hand of God ; a devoted child of the Church, refusing a 
mitre when to accept it were to renounce his allegiance to 
Rome, and preferring, in the stead, a ^crown set with the 



Vui INTRODUCTION. 

thorns of persecution. The stoiy of such a life shows how 
much good may be done when a man is really in earnest. It 
is an eloquent protest against the petty selfishness of so many 
with ready hands and willing hearts, who defeat the designs 
of God upon them, because of their want of the spirit of 
sacrifice. 

It is not only the spiritual life of this great man that is 
worthy of our study and imitation ; it is also his works. His 
mission was not merely to sanctify his own soul ; it was, 
furthermore, that of inaugurating a new era in education. He 
began where he found the need the most pressing : he placed 
primary education upon a new basis. Living in the golden age 
of Louis XIV, he saw beneath the glitter of his day, and 
found that in many cases what men called gold was only 
gilding. He found the splendors of the court built upon the 
impoverishment of the people, and his heart bled for them. 
Others might bask in the sunshine of royal and episcopal 
power ; he would none of it. He had a work to do. The 
poor were in suffering and neglect ; their children were 
without a proper education. He saw a people growing up in 
ignorance of their religion and their duties, a prey to aW the 
accompanying vices, and he shuddered at the consequences. 
Perhaps he foresaw, perhaps there flitted across his vision, 
the horrors of the French Revolution. Be that as it may, 
had there been more La Salles, the people would not have 
become so estranged from the clergy ; and though the Revo- 
lution might not have been avoided, its horrors would have 
remained unwritten in the blood of the best in the land. 
There were universities and colleges enough for the wealthy 
and middle classes, but the poor were sadly neglected 
Primary education was at a low ebb. Anybody was con- 
sidered good enough to be a teacher. At Paris, Claude 
Joly is accused of employing the very scum of society to 
teach his schools.* In Lyons, M. Demia finds ''that the 
greater number of teachers not only did not know how to read 
and write well, but were also ignorant of the principles of their 
religion, "t The Bishop of Toul, in 1686, draws a disgust- 
ing picture of the masters of his day : ''They are gamblers, 
drunkards, libertines, ignorant and brutal. They pass their 

* Factum, attributed to E. Purchot, of the Paris University, 
i ** Viede if. Demia,'* p. 8x. 



INTRODUCTION. IX 

days in taverns, playing cards, and are engaged to fiddle in 
haunts of pleasure, and at the village festivals. In church 
they are not modestly dressed, and instead of applying them- 
selves to the ecclesiastical chant, they sing, during the Divine 
Offices, whatever comes into their heads." * But little good 
was to be expected from such men ; on the contrary, the evil 
they did was incalculable. ' ' Since you force me, '' said a pre- 
late, ' ' to say what I would wish to have hidden in eternal forget- 
fulness, I have been obliged to interdict a dozen of magisters, 
because these unfortunate individuals had become the cor- 
rupters of those confided to their instruction. " f ' * We ought 
not to be astonished," says M. Bourdoise, *' if we see so few 
of the children educated at the free schools live like good 
Christians. For a school to become useful to Christianity, 
it must have masters who labor as apostles, and not as 
mercenaries. To remedy so loud-crying an evil, and raise 
up masters worthy of their sublime mission, became the life- 
work of La Salle. And he succeeded. He gave a new 
method of teaching : the mutual-simultaneous, which time 
has sanctioned. *' It is by the simultaneous method that the 
Brothers have raised the level of education ; that they have 
regulated its progress, and caused it to be useful to the masses, 
and not to the chosen few. "J He based the acquisition of 
knowledge rather upon reason and judgment than upon 
memory. He laid a hitherto unheard-of stress upon the study 
of the vernacular. Prior to his day, the study of Latin was 
made the basis of all other studies ; children should know it 
before undertaking to learn their mother-tongue. He reversed 
the process, though not without much opposition. Nor did 
he neglect higher education. He found that many of the 
colleges of his day were calculated to give young men a know- 
ledge of the ancient classics, and unfit them for the industrial 
and commercial pursuits of life ; he accordingly established 
colleges, in which were inaugurated special courses in mathe- 
matics, the fine arts and the natural sciences. 

But it was not enough to begin all these and other innova- 
tions and reforms ; the good work should be perpetuated. 
For this 'purpose La Salle gathered around him men with a 
kindred spirit, and drew up for them a rule of life which he 



• Synodal Statutes of 1686. t p|re Blain, vol. i, p. 5a. 

X " Rapport sur V Instruction Primaire," by M. Buisson, p. 252. 1873. 



X INTRODUCTION. 

himself was the first to follow ; and he and they pledged them- 
selves to devote their lives and energies to the noble work of 
educating youth. He displayed rare tact as an organizer. 
The rules and constitutions he prepared for the Brothers have 
been regarded as a masterpiece of wisdom. They embody 
his genius, and the more closely they are followed, the more 
successful is the result. He showed the way for the numerous 
religious orders of laymen devoted to teaching, since estab- 
lished in the Church, Be their names what they may, to him 
must they all look as their spiritual father. He was the 
pioneer. ** He is," says Ravelet, *'the Columbus of a new 
world." * He showed how such institutions might be made 
to flourish and do good. And we may add that in every 
instance La Salle was ahead of his age, and worked more for 
the future than for his own day. There is scarce a modern 
educational improvement that he did not anticipate. '' That 
method must be excellent/' says M. Ayma, ''which has 
remained the same for two centuries, and yet ceases not to 
suit our time, the character of youth, our present needs, and 
the requirements of families." f But his greatest title to the 
gratitude of men is that he is the modern apostle of Christian 
education. At no time was it more necessar)'- to lay stress 
upon the religious training of youth than in these days of 
scepticism and godless education. At no time is the Brother 
of the Christian Schools more called for. The school- 
room has become the battle-ground between Christianity and 
atheism. Therein the enemies of religion are putting forth 
all their strength. 

* " Histoire du Ven. J. B, de La Salle," p. 5. 
t " (Euvre des Scales," pp. 37, 38. 



CONTENTS. 



PAGI. 

Protestation -------- iii 

Dedication --------v 

Introduction - - - - - - - -vii 



BOOK I. 

the preparation. 



CHAPTER I. 

Historical Position of the Church as an Educator. — Some Leaves 
from her past Record. — The early Monks Civilizers. — Decrees of 
Councils in Favor of Education. — The Work of ixeligious 
Orders. — The Work of the Reformation. — How the Church 
counteracted it. ---------- 



CHAPTER II. 

Birth of Jean Baptiste de La Salle. — His Family. — Early Years. 
— He enters the University of Rheims. — First Communion. — 
He receives the Tonsure. — Duty of Christian Parents. — M. Dozet 
resigns his Canonry in Favor of M. de La Salle. — St. Sulpice. — 
Pere Bauyn. — Death of Father and Mother. — He returns to 
Rheims. — Pdre Roland. — M. de La Salle receives Minor Orders. 
— Ordained Priest in 1678. — First Mass. — He is sought as 
Spiritual Director. — His Humility. - - - - - 13 



CHAPTER III. 

Abb6 de La Salle's Trials. — He desires to exchange his Canonry 
for a Curateship. — Mgr. Le Tellier refuses. — Death of M. Ro- 
land. — Sisters of the Holy Child Jesus. — M. de La Salle procures 
them Letters -Patent. — Renewed Trials. — M. Nyel and Compan- 



Xli CONTENTS. 

PJLGi. 

ion. — Efforts to establish Communities for the Instruction of the 
Children of the Masses. — Gerard Groot, St. Joseph Calasanzio, 
Venerable Cesar de Bus, M. Demia, Blessed Peter Fourier, 
Peter Tranchot, P^re Barr^, M. Nyel.— M. de La Salle provi- 
dentially rescued. — He lodges M. Nyel and Companion. — M. 
Dorigny. — School at St. Jacques. - - - r - • 35 

CHAPTER IV. 

Precarious Condition of the Work. — M. NyePs Character. — M. de 
La Salle brings the Teachers near his Residence. — They dine 
with him. — ^Trials. — School at Guise. — The Teachers live with 
M. de La Salle.— P^re Barry's Advice.— Rethel.— Duke de 
Mazarin. — Schools at Chateau Porcein, Saint-Pierrie, Laon. — ^M. 
de La Salle retires into Solitude. — Resigns his Canonry. — Refuses 
to give his Resignation in Favor of his Brother. — The Ahh6 
Faubert. —The Venerable distributes his Patrimony to the Poor. 
— famine of 1684. -.----..-56 



BOOK IL 

THE VOCATION. 



CHAPTER I. 

Several Collegians enter the Society. — Removal to Rue Neuve.— 
Incompetent Teachers requested to withdraw. — Retreat with 
twelve Brothers. — They make triennial Vows. — The religious 
Habit. — M. de La Salle establishes a Training- School. — Duke de 
Mazarin. — M. Nyel retires to Rouen. — General Assembly of 
the Brothers in 1686. — The Venerable resigns the Generalship. 
— Illness of several Brothers. — Death of FF. Nicolas, Jean Paris, 
and Maurice. — M. de La Salle receives Penitents, and is visited 
by distinguished Ecclesiastics. ------- 75 

CHAPTER II. 

De La Salle desires to establish a School in Paris. — ^Mgr. Le 
Tellier seeks to detain him in Rheims. — Pdres Barrfe and de La 
Barmondidre are consulted. — School in Rue Princesse. — M. 
Compagnon. — His Character. — Mme. de Maintenon. — Parish of 
St. Sulpice.— St. Vincent de Paul's Labors.— M. Olier.— The 
Venerable is persecuted. — M. Forbin-Janson investigates. — M. 
Baudrand succeeds. — M. de La Barmondidre. — School in Rue 



CONTENTS. Xlll 

PAGB. 

du Bac. — M. de La Salle is called to Rheims. — He falls danger- 
ously ill. — The Holy Viaticum. — M. Helvetius cures the holy 
Founder. — Death of Brother Henri-Lheureux. — Results for the 
Society. --------.--96 

CHAPTER III. 

Means adopted to firmly establish the Society. — ^The Venerable 
retires to meditate. — He secures a Novitiate in Vaugirard. — ^The i 
Brothers make a three-months' Retreat. — The Normal-School 
Teachers replace them. — Brothers Jean-Paris and Jean-Henri. — 
The Venerable makes a special Vow with the Brothers Nicolas 
Vuyart and Gabriel. — ^The Formula. — Its Meaning. — M. Bau- 
drand wishes the Brothers to change their Dress. — The Venerable 
refuses. — ^Vaugirard : its Poverty. — Famine in 1693. — Count du 
Charmel. ----.----.- 112 

CHAPTER IV. 

The Brothers ask to make perpetual Vows. — ^Twelve are selected. — 
Trinity- Sunday, 1694. — The Venerable seeks to resign the Gen- 
eralship. — An important Document signed. — Hardened Sinners 
are converted.'— M. de La Salle suffers great physical Pain. — 
Sister Louise. — M. Baudrand. — The Venerable rents a Dwell- 
ing. — He visits his Communities. — A young Calvinist converted. » 
— The Rules and Constitutions. — Death of Mgr. de Harlay. — 
Private Chapels interdicted by Cardinal de Noailles. — M. de La 
Chfetardie. — His Zeal. — Saint Cassian. — Two Schools established. 
—The Writing-Masters.— The Training-School of St. Hippo- 
lyte. — ^The Venerable's Plan of Studies in 1697 adopted by 
France in 1851. ----- ..... g^ 

CHAPTER V. 

rhe Venerable's Friends.— Louis XIV and the Irish Exfles.— M. < 
de La Salle opens a Boarding-School. — Gratitude of Tames IL 
— Memorial of the Clergy of Chartres to their Bisnop. — Re- 
ligious Orders true Republics. — Mgr. des Marais and the Jan- 
senists. — ^The Venerable visits his Communities. — His Reception 
in Chartres. — The Bishop offers to secure Letters-Patent for 
the Sodety. — The Venerable declines. — His Forethought— He 
dianges the Method of teaching Reading. — Mortifications prac- 
tised bj the Brothers in Chartres ..•«.. 158 

CHAPTER VI. 

The Venerable establishes Sunday-Lecture Courses for Artisans and 
Tradesmen. — Success of the Enterprise.— Sdiools in Calais and 



XIV CONTENTS. 

PAGB» 

Troyes. — Brother Gabriel and a Companion sent to Rome. — 
Avignon and Marseilles obtain Brothers. — Envy and Discontent 
in Paris. — La Salle unjustly held responsible. — M. Pirot, Vicar- 
General, investigates the Complaints. — Patience and Humility 
shown by La Salle. — Cardinal de Noailles appoints a new Supe- 
rior. — The attempted Installation. — Scenes. — M. Bricot refuses 
to accept the Position as Superior. — La Salle threatened with 
Exile. — M. de La Ch6tardie interferes. — The Director of Novices 
and his Companion abandon the Institute. - - - - 176 

CHAPTER VII. 

The Venerable removes from Notre-Dame-des-Vertus. — The Sis- 
ters of St. Dominic— The Sunday Lecture-Course closed. — St. 
Roch. — Darnetal and Rouen receive Brothers. — Difficulties of 
the last Mission. — Novitiate at St. Yon. — Madame de Louvois 
and the Benedictine Nuns. — The Boarding- School at St. Yon. — 
Its Character and Regulations. — The Abb6 Hecquet.— La Salle 
opens a parochial School at his own Expense. — Schools for De- 
linquents and Culprits. -...---- 200 

CHAPTER VIII. 

Troubles in Paris. — ^The Writing-Masters. — Parliament refuses to 
sustain the Venerable's Appeal. — St. Sulpice Schools temporarily 
closed. — The Brothers return. — Schools in Mende and Alais. — 
Protestant Scholars received. — Foundations in Grenoble, Valr6as 
and St. Denis. — Brother Joseph named Visitor. — The Venerable 
visits his Communities. — Assembly at St. Yon. — Brother Ga- 
briel and the Roman Mission. — Famine in 1709. — The Novitiate 
brought to Paris. — M. Helvetius and the sick Brothers at St. 
Sulpice. — Brother Barth^lemy. — The Brothers in Moulins and 
Boulogne. — The Abb^-Clement Difficulty. — The Bishop of Avig- 
non. — The Venerable ill at Vans. — FF. Henri and Nicolas. — M. 
de La Salle returns to Marseilles. ------ 227 

CHAPTER IX. 

Mgr. de Belzunce. — ^The Jansenists seek to bribe the Venerable. — 
Brother Timothy. — Novitiate in Marseilles. — M. de La Salle 
persecuted. — He prepares a Memoir. — Desires to visit Rome. — 
Love for the Holy Father. — A Jesuit defends the Venerable's 
Cause. — Charity for the Fallen. — The Dominicans welcome the 
Venerable. — The City of Mende calls the holy Founder. — The 
Brothers of Grenoble. — Brother Hilarion. — P^re Blain, Chap- 
lain at St. Yon. — M. de Brou interferes with the Brothers m 
Paris. — The Venerable teaches School. — He revises School- 
Books. — Fr^re Ir6nfee. . • • - - - - . 253 



CONTENTS. XV 

PikGS 

CHAPTER X. 

The Bull Unigenitus. — The Venerable recalled to Paris. — His 
Reception. — Death of M. de La Ch6tardie. — Louis XIV and his 
Age, — The Novices return to St. Yon. — Chevalier d'Armstadt. 
— His Trials. — The Venerable returns to St. Yon. — Visited by 
distinguished Persons. — He Visits Calais. — Devotion to Mary- 
Immaculate. — His Portrait secured. — Resigns the Generalship. 
— Brother Barthelemy elected. — Assistant Superiors named. — 
The Schools conducted. — Method introduced by the Venerable de 
La Salle. — His Views. — How to direct and to interest Children. 277 

CHAPTER XI. 

The Venerable de La Salle as an Inferior. —His Humility. — He 
visits Paris to receive a Legacy. — Love of Truth. — St. Yon to be 
sold. — Death of Madame de Louvois. — Generosity of her Son. — 
St. Yon the Property of the Institute. — The Venerable plans new 
Buildings. — Fervor of the Novices. — M. de La Sailers Recol- 
lection in Prayer. — Brothers asked for Canada. — Illness of the 
holy Founder. — Temporary Cure. — Mass on St. Joseph's Day. — 
Was the Venerable interdicted ? — He follows wSt. Vincent de Paul. 
— He receives the last Sacraments. — Last Will and Testament. — 
He advises Retirement from the World. — His Prophecy. — Last 
Words. — '^The Saint is dead! " — Brother Barthelemy's Letters. 
Brother Gabriel. — The Funeral. ------ 295 



BOOK III. 

THE WORK AND ITS FRUITS. 



CHAPTER I. 

State of the Institute at the Death of the Venerable. — Brother 

Barth61emy's Demise. — Brother Timothy elected Superior. — 
Letters -Patent secured for St. Yon. — Pope Benedict XIII ap- 
proves the Society. — A General Chapter receives the Bull. — 
The Venerable's Remains transferred to St. Yon. — Imposing 
Ceremonies. — Brother Gabriel returns to France. — His Death. — 
Brother Timothy resigns. — Brother Claude elected. — Literary 
Character of those Days. — Election of Brother Florence. — His 
Resignation. — Brother Agathon. — His Career and Sufferings. — 
The Revolution. — Martyrs. — Brother Frumence named Vicar- 
General. — School in Lyons. — Pius VII visits the Community. — 



XVI CONTENTS. 



Napoleon L — Cardinal Fesch. — Brother Gerbaud elected 
Superior. — His sudden Death. — ^Brother William of Jesus suc- 
ceeds him.— School-Books prepared. — Brother Anaclet elected 
Superior. — ^The Preparatory Novitiate. — Evening Schools. - 3*9 

CHAPTER II. 

Brother Philip. — His Character as portrayed some Weeks after his 
Death. — The World unites in honoring his Memory. — His Works, 
charitable and literary. — Letter of the Cardinal Archbishop of 
Paris. — The Holy Father writes the Panegyric of the deceased 
General. — Brother Jean-Olympe. — Success of his Government. 
— A Year's Administration. — ^The Society again in Tears. — Most 
honored Brother Irlide to continue the Work. - . - - 340 

CHAPTER III. 

The Venerable de La Salle and his Work.— His Virtues.— Grati- 
tude of the Church and her Children.— The Monument at Rouen. 
—Extracts from the discourses.— The one Thing still asked by 
the Catholic World for the Venerable de La Salle, . * ^ 360 



BOOK I. 

THE PREPARATION 
CHAP. I. 



The Church as an Educator. — Some Leaves from her past Record* — 
The early Monks Civilizers. — Decrees of Councils in Favor of 
Education. — The Work of Religious Orders.— The work of the 
Reformation. — How the Church counteracted it. 

The author who undertakes to write a faithful 
history of one of those distinguished characters 
that the Catholic Church can alone produce, finds 
a preparatory task before him. Prior to building 
up, he has to clear away the historical rubbish. De 
Maistre has truly said that history, for the past three 
centuries, has been a conspiracy against truth, and 
he who would determine what any Catholic under- 
taking or Catholic character has been, must first find 
out what each has not been. Thus, when we peruse 
the pages of history, as written by the greater num- 
ber of authors, we find them almost unanimously 
proclaiming that the Church is the enemy of popular 
instruction, and that she dreads lest her children 
become intellectually vigorous. Were we to be- 
lieve these writers, we would conclude that she has 
hold only upon ignorance ; that, in these days of 
enlightenment, she is a fossilized institution, whose 
life and energy have all passed from her ; that she 



2 The Life and Work of 

only cumbers the ground, and shuts out the light. 
But the fact that learning still exists, that it flour- 
ishes as a vigorous tree, whose branches outspread 
themselves more and more, and that all the nations 
of the earth now take shelter under its protecting 
shade, is the living refutation of the monstrous pre- 
tension that the Church allowed instruction to per- 
ish, or that she was the enemy of learned men, and 
of the sciences they developed. 

Justice requires us to judge men, not only by the 
results of their actions, but also by the principles 
which have directed them. This rule is of general 
acceptance, when applied to the individual ; it is 
equally applicable to society at large. Now, it is 
the Church that has moulded the better phases of 
modern society, and inspired the humane elements in 
the laws by which she is governed. She may not 
have given it all the finish that modern reformers 
think it might have attained ; but we must not for- 
get that, in this case, the Church is much like the 
skilful master, who gives his scholar, not all the in- 
struction that he would desire to impart, but all that 
the latter has aptitude to receive. Moreover, soci- 
ety when properly constituted, depends for the 
legality of its existence upon the principles of which 
the Church is the guardian and best exponent. But 
though a Divine institution, we must not forget 
that this Church accomplishes her mission to men, 
in part, by human agencies. She forms and asso- 
ciates, she fosters and encourages; but it is not 
given, even to her, to create. This is why the 
work of the Church is not an absolutely perfect 



The Ven. J. B, De La Salle, 3 

work, in all its details. But let us be just ; let us 
judge her as we would judge any representative 
body ; let us consult her official declarations, and 
examine the efforts she has made to render these 
declarations effective ; above all, let us not forget 
the feeble instruments with which she has worked, 
and the great obstacles she has had to surmount. 

We shall not attempt to speak of those famous 
universities, the names of which are known to every 
educated person, and which owed their vigor and 
intellectual prowess to learned priests and monks ; 
we prefer to see whether the masses of the people 
were provided for ; whether they were left in igno- 
rance and servility, or if the Church raised her 
voice, and employed her power and influence to 
ameliorate their condition. 

Primary Christian education begins with the 
organization of the Church. Christ was Himself a 
primary teacher; His apostles were the earliest 
Christian educators. " Suffer little children to come 
unto me/* said the Divine Master; thereby He 
made of His Church a grand school, in which there 
is room for all. None are exempt from the invita- 
tion ; for the sublimest genius, as well as the most 
limited intelligence, is that of a child when there is 
question of the mysteries of our holy religion. A 
sublime origin is this of Christian education. The 
foundation was laid ; the erection of the superstruct- 
ure was only a question of time. During the first 
three centuries the work of instructing had to be 
done by stealth. The Church was recognized only 
to be hunted down. Under the ban of persecuting 



4 The Life and Work of 

emperors and blood-thirsty governors, her home 
was the catacombs, her pulpit the executioner's 
block. The only privilege granted her was an 
occasional apology ; ,, her rights were limited to 
that of sealing her faith, and watering the seed of 
her belief, with the blood of her children. But, the 
first ages of persecution ended, she walked abroad 
among the peoples, scattering her benefits to all ; 
she renewed her educational efforts, and proved her 
love of learning b}^ the schools she established in 
all principal cities. " The Church and the school 
have been always inseparable for the people."^ As 
time rolled on, and revolution followed revolution, 
she still clung to her divine mission. Driven from 
their cells and their monasteries, her sons seek new 
retreats. Even when success crowns their efforts, 
and princes encourage their labors, these pioneers 
forget not their vocation. When more than suffi- 
ciently numerous, they form colonies, and are not 
afraid to exchange the comforts of an established 
home for the miasma of the marsh, and the terrors 
of the forest. Everywhere the children of Benedict 
and Bruno, of Columba and Clement, spread the 
good odor of Jesus Christ, and saved the world from 
falling into barbarism. But, as our object is to 
draw attention to the efforts that prepared the way 
for the work of the Venerable de la Salle, we limit 
ourselves chiefly to the consideration of what had 
been accomplished in France previous to his time. 

The decrees of the early councils in France 
furnish us with positive evidence concerning the 

* Gregory VII, p. 216. 



The Ven. J. B, De La Salle. 5 

aniversality of schools in that country during the 
fifth and sixth centuries. But this did not last. 
Under the degenerate sons of Clovis, learning 
and sanctity became buried in the disorders that 
prevailed throughout the kingdom. The genius 
of Charlemagne remedied the evil. 

He collected a body of learned men about him ; 
he required the bishops and the abbots, in his 
dominions, to establish schools for the education of 
the people. His orders vs^ere faithfully obeyed. 
France became a nursery of learning ; throughout 
the empire, from the court to the remotest village, 
schools v^ere established, in which reading, writing, 
the psalter, singing, computation, and orthography, 
were taught. 

The schools then founded were of various grades : 
there were those of country curates, in which the 
parish children were to be gratuitously taught, and 
especially instructed in the elements of Christian 
Doctrine ; those attached to bishoprics or abbeys, 
where the instruction was of a higher grade, chiefly 
inteiKied for youths who were preparing for ecclesi- 
astical duties ; finally, the school established in 
the emperor's palace, where the most distinguished 
men of the empire assembled, and where the em- 
peror personally took part in their literary labors. 

Despite the ruin caused by the invasion of the 
Normans, these schools were continued under the 
patronage of the bishops, the clergy, and the mon- 
asteries — even by laymen, under ecclesiastical 
supervision. In his Capitulary of 797, Theodolphus, 
Bishop of Orleans, one of the first restorers of let- 



6 The Life and Work of 

ters in France, enjoins upon pastors to give gratui- 
tous instruction to the children of the people, and 
nothing was to be exacted, nothing accepted, save 
what might voluntarily be given by the parents.*^ 
Gautier, successor of Theodolphus, renewed the 
decree by which this pious bishop had ordained 
** that each priest shall have a cleric, whom he will 
religiously train ; and, if it be possible, he shall not 
neglect to have a school in his church, and he shall 
watch attentively to nourish, in a chaste and mod- 
est manner, those whom his cleric undertakes to 
instruct.** Hincmar, Archbishop of Rheims (845), 
the spiritual adviser of kings, four of whom he had 
consecrated, and whom Guizot not inappropriately 
compared to Bossuet, believed it a duty to 
introduce, among other regulations for the direc- 
tion of his archdiocese, that the proper authorities 
should examine " if each parish priest had a cleric 
able to direct a school^ In an ancient council, held 
at Macon, we find the same idea in almost the same 
words : " Each priest in charge of souls shall have 
a competent cleric to teach school, and he shall 
notify his parishioners to send their children to the 
church, to be instructed in the faith/* The Council 
held at Mayence, in 813, imposes it as an obligation 
upon all priests to employ every means in their 
power *' to oblige the faithful to send their children 
to the schools, to be instructed in the truths of faith.'* 
In 855, the Council of Valence earnestly recom- 
mended the reestablishment of Christian schools, and 
chiefly attributes the ignorance of the things of God 

* Labbe, t. vii, p. 1140. 



The Ven. J. B, De La Salle, 7 

so manifest in those days, to the fact that these 
schools had been allowed to perish. 

Later, we find the Church working in the same 
spirit. In 11 79, the third Council of Lateran, held 
under Alexander III, decreed : *' The Church of God 
being obliged, as a good and tender mother, to pro- 
vide for the spiritual and corporal wants of her 
children ; desirous of procuring for the poor, who 
are deprived of the necessary pecuniary resources, 
the facility to learn to read, and to advance in the 
study of letters, ordains that each cathedral church 
shall have a master, whose duty it will be to gratui- 
tously instruct the clerics of this church and the 
poor scholars, and this master shall be given a sal- 
ary that will suffice to support him, thus opening 
the way to learning. A school will also be estab- 
lished in the monasteries, where there formerly 
were foundations for this purpose. No one shall 
exact remuneration for a license to teach, nor, 
under pretext of any customs whatever, shall he ex- 
tort aught from these already engaged in teaching ; 
neither shall he refuse any competent and worthy 
person permission to teach. Those who will pre- 
sume to contravene this order, shall be deprived of 
their ecclesiastical revenues ; for it is but just that, 
in the Church of God, he who, through cupidity, 
would sell the right to teach, and thus prevent the 
progress of the Church, should himself be deprived 
of the fruits of his labor."^ The fourth Council of 
Lateran, held under Innocent III, in 121 5, renewed 
these instructions. They were followed as far 

*Labbe, t. x, p. 15 18. 



8 The Life and Work of 

as the troublesome character of the times would 
permit. 

In 1235, Pierre de Colmien, Archbishop of Rouen, 
published an ordinance, in which he made it obliga- 
tory upon the clergy " frequently to impress upon 
their parishioners the obligation under which they 
were to instruct their children, and to make them 
attend school assiduously/' The recommendations 
were not lost upon those to whom they were ad- 
dressed. At the beginning of the twelfth century 
we find schools opened, not only in the cities, 
but also in the villages. In the thirteenth and 
fourteenth centuries they spread in many directions. 
Thus, in little villages like Saint Seine and Lucenay- 
en-Morvan, there were flourishing establishments. 
In the diocese of Langres, there were schools in no 
less than thirty-one districts, some of which, even 
at the present day, are insignificant places. In 
1465-6, the diocese of Rouen, alone, had given the 
tonsure to three thousand nine hundred and fifty- 
four youths, all of whom, to receive this distinction, 
must have obtained, at least, a partial education. 
We can conceive some idea of the extent to which 
these schools were disseminated, when we read 
that Gerson, in his treatise upon the " Visitation of 
Dioceses,** written about the year 1400, coun- 
selled the bishops to inquire diligently "if each 
parish has a school, how the children are taught 
therein, and to establish schools where none have 
been opened." With the multiplication of schools 
came an increasing demand for teachers. The 
profession was one so highly honored in those 



The Ven. J. B. De La Salle. y 

days, that it became a convenient cloak with which 
to veil rascality, and then the Church began to 
be more choice in her appointments. She laid 
stress upon the faith and morals of those to whom 
she intrusted the education of her youth. To this 
effect we read several canons and decrees of Coun- 
cils. Thus, the thirteenth canon of the Council of 
Rouen, in 1445, declared that none save those 
whose age, morals, and talents litted them for the 
profession, should be employed as teachers of youth. 
In 1551, the Council of Narbonne prescribed that 
teachers, before being engaged, should be presented 
to the bishop, to submit to an examination as to 
morals, faith, and learning. The General Assembly 
of France, held at Melun in 1579, remarks that the 
lives of teachers should, in themselves, be a subject 
of instruction. 

The first canon of the Council of Rouen, in 1631, 
ordained that the bishops shall reestablish the 
ancient schools, open others in localities where they 
do not exist, and see that youth be educated in the 
ways of the Lord. 

Similar regulations may be found in the decrees 
of the Council of Bordeaux, in 1533, of Aix, in 1585, 
of Toulous.e, in 1590, and Chalons, in 1662. Thus, 
the last-mentioned assembly says: '' Prefer the pay- 
ment of a teacher to any other pious work, which may 
be neither so necessary nor so pressing.'' 

As time advanced, it became still more necessary 
to attend to the faith and morals of teachers, inas- 
much as the Protestant Reformation had sent abroad 
a number of illiterate but bold adventurers, who had 



10 The Life and Work of 

left the anvil or the bench to become preachers of 
doctrine and teachers of youth, — veritable blind 
leaders of the blind. The Reformation breathed a 
spirit of disintegration. Naturally, it tended to the 
total forgetfulness of all that tradition held dear. It 
was a spirit that taught each man to believe himself 
inspired, and the framer of his own faith. It was 
the negation of all authority. How did the Church 
meet the difficulty? It was a serious one; the 
remedy must be powerful. 

To oppose this spirit of independence, this pride 
of intellect, the Church continued to offer, as she had 
hitherto done, the doctrine of submission of will and 
intellect, as embodied in her religious orders. St. 
Ignatius, after having been the hero in earthly war- 
fare, founds a Society, which, since, has been fore- 
most in every religious battle — first to enter the field, 
last to leave it. The learning of his sons is one of the 
lights of the Council of Trent, and their zeal brings 
hitherto unknown, forgotten peoples into the fold of 
the Church. Later, St. Alphonsus hastens to do his 
share in the work of staying the progress of infidelity, 
and of rebuilding that which irreligion has torn down. 
His children devote themselves to the wants of the 
villages, and preserve the traditions and expound 
the doctrines of the Church so well, that their 
father has been rewarded by being placed, with 
the Gregorys and the Basils, in the list of the 
doctors of the Church. Not only had heresy made 
sad havoc in the souls of the people, but war, insti- 
gated by the passions which the hour created, had 
filled Europe with desolation, and all hearts with 



The Ven. J. B, De La Salle. Ii 

dread, when St. Vincent appears, to stem the tide of 
misery and suffering. He, too, founds an order that 
will not only have for its object to instruct the 
people, but that will attack evil most successfully, 
by preparing the athletes who are to enter the field 
against irreligion and infidelity. His fathers of the 
mission open seminaries and retreats : in the former, 
young men are trained for the service of the altar ; 
in the latter, such as have already entered the field, 
and who need repose for a short while, to recu- 
perate, physically and morally, may retire, always 
certain of a welcome reception. St. Vincent does 
more. He estabhshes the Sisters of Charity, whose 
veil is their modesty, whose cloister is the sick- 
chamber or the battle-field ; who are to be found 
everywhere, since there is no place in which they 
are not needed. But the age in which the Refor- 
mation sought to establish itself, was not only an era 
of incredulity and negation ; necessarily it became 
one of sensuality. The founders of the new doctrines 
had given the example ; the disciples followed. 
Then did the Church prove that she possessed 
vitality. St. Philip Neri, in his holy simplicity, and 
St. Paul of the Cross, in a spirit of mortification, 
which rivals that of the seraphic St. Francis, — each 
founds a Society, whose work is its best recom- 
mendation, — a work that to-day admires, and to- 
morrow will not cease to need. 

Is the list complete? Not yet; there is one 
character whose genius is to turn the tide of 
thought upon this rapid-moving globe. He needs 
only to be mentioned, to be known : the Venerable 



12 The Life and Work of 

de La Salle. '* He/' says Ravelet, " is the most 
distinguished person in the history of the eighteenth 
century." He appears at the beginning of the 
reign of Louis XIV. While this prince is at the 
zenith of his glory, an humble priest prepares, in 
silence and in seclusion, a work, the future develop- 
ment of which he does not foresee. He lays the 
foundation of this enterprise in all humility, the very 
year in which Louis, through pride, contests the 
rights of the Holy See. This modest priest founds 
an association of Christian teachers at a time when 
those who govern the people forget the most im- 
portant principles of Christianity. But long after 
the great monarch has tottered into his grave, and 
his power has fallen, the work of this unknown priest 
grows apace, and his name becomes revered by all 
who love religion and youth. 



The Ven. J. B. De La Salle. 13 



CHAPTER II. 

Birth of Jean Baptiste de La Salle. — His family. — Early Years. — He 
enters the University of Rheims. — First Communion. — He receives 
the Tonsure. — Duty of Christian Parents. — M. Dozet resigns his Can- 
onry in Favor of M. de La Salle, — St. Sulpice. — P^re Baiiyn. — Death of 
Father and Mother. — He returns to Rheims. — P^re Roland. — M. de 
La Salle receives Minor Orders. — Ordained Priest in 1678. — First 
Mass. — He is sought as Spiritual Director. — His Humility. 

The traveller, who visits the city of Rheims, and 
enters Rue T Arbal^te, will there find a hotel, known 
as the Hotel de la Cloche-Perse, and also as Hotel 
de la Croix-d'Or. Recent researches have estab- 
lished that it was in this house, on the thirtieth day 
of April, 1651, Jean Baptiste de La Salle was born; 
the same day he was baptized in the church of Saint- 
Hilaire, his grandfather and grandmother being 
sponsors. A marble slab, placed in a conspicuous 
part of the front of the house, marks its historical 
importance. 

It may be remarked that, from the foundation of 
the Apostolic College, certain famihes have been 
specially favored by heaven, in regard to religious 
vocations. In the family of which Jean Baptiste de 
La Salle was the first-born, history presents another 
illustration. Four of the seven children conseci ated 
themselves to God : a daughter became a religious 
among the Ladies of St. Stephen ; one of the sons, 
a canon-regular of St. Genevieve, at Senlis ; two 



14 The Life and Work of 

others were successively canons in the Metro- 
politan Church of Rheims. The family of La Salle 
has other glories, partially of a religious, partially 
of a national, character. The name and family are 
found connected with some of the most eminent 
explorers or missionaries in the New World, Mar- 
quette, the Jesuit, was connected with La Salle, 
Rose de La Salle, a relative of Jean Baptiste, being 
P6re Marquette's mother ; and in the French army 
which aided in securing American independence, 
there were three Marquettes, who gave their lives 
for the cause. 

There is but one verdict as to the early years of 
Jean Baptiste de La Salle. " Gifted with the most 
happy disposition of mind and heart,'' says one of 
his latest biographers,^ " this child of benediction 
produced early fruits of virtue. Simple in his 
tastes, charitable to the poor, affectionate toward 
his brothers, submissive, respectful, and considerate 
toward those whom he looked upon as superiors, 
he was the ornament and the joy of this noble 
family. He never manifested any affection for 
those amusements or brilliant feasts at which he was 
at times constrained to assist ; yet, in his external 
conduct, nothing could be detected that bespoke 
either a gloomy disposition, or a superficial char- 
acter; he was gay, without giddiness; devout, 
without affectation." Moreover, it was easy to 
foresee that Providence had special designs upon 
this remarkable child. All that related to religion 
charmed him ; his greatest delight was to read the 

* F. Lucard. 



The Ven. % B. De La Salle. 15 

Lives of the Saints. When his parents wished to 
reward him for his application to study, they could 
give him no greater gratification than to relate 
some pious legend, or to read a portion of the Acts 
of the Martyrs. The ceremonies of the Church 
produced a marked effect upon him ; he loved to 
repeat them, as best he could, before a miniature 
altar, which he had erected in his room. Possess- 
ing a rich, sympathetic voice, his greatest satisfac- 
tion was to sing pious hymns and canticles, though 
his father offered him the opportunity of training 
his musical taste in another direction. He learned 
to serve Mass, and afterward asked, as a signal 
favor, to be given a place among the sanctuary 
boys of his parish. So determined was his opposi- 
tion to worldly amusements, that, on one occasion, 
while the entire family was engaged in the enjoy- 
ment of a soiree given at his parents* residence, he 
could only be consoled when one of the pious ladies 
present consented to relate to him some traits in the 
lives of the saints. 

His virtuous mother, NicoUe Moet, had a large 
share in the development of these pious sentiments, 
but she did not limit herself to this part of his 
education. At an early age she inured him to the 
love of labor, and this strengthened the foundation 
of his future persevering character. When about 
eight years of age, he was placed in the university 
which had been founded at Rheims in 1554. It 
was then under the rectorship of the distinguished 
Thomas Mercier. The precocious talents of the 
young scholar, his keenness of judgment, and his 



1 6 The Life and Work of 

close attention to study, gave his parents reason to 
expect a most brilliant future for their son. The 
new scholar realized the hopes of his family ; ere 
long he attracted the attention of his professors, 
and soon gained their esteem. Under their intelH- 
gent direction he made rapid progress, to such 
an extent, indeed, that they more than once 
involuntarily asked themselves: *^ For what work 
has Providence predestined this remarkable child ? 
What shall be his future ? '* ^ 

The attentions of a religious mother, joined to 
the instructions of intelligent pastors, prepared Jean 
Baptiste for the important act toward the accom- 
plishment of which his heart yearned with child- 
like faith and love. His first communion was an act 
that not only united him with his Divine Lord, but 
also made known his future vocation. Rich in the 
innocence and fervor of his youth, he approached 
Jesus with candor, love, confidence, and simplicity. 
Fully impressed with the greatness of the favor 
he had received, he desired to make, as nearly as 
possible, an adequate return. What could he give 
but his own heart? The sacrifice was intuitively 
called for at the moment when, for the first time, he 
found himself united with the sacred heart of his 
Lord. Instinctively the sacrifice was asked, spon- 
taneously it was given. From that moment his 
choice was made, and young La Salle cried out, in 
the fulness of his gratitude: ** Henceforth the Lord 
is my portion ; no creature shall deprive me of this 
Divine treasure ; in Him, alone, shall my soul seek 
light, peace, rest, and happiness.'* 

♦ F. Lucard, t. i, p. ii, 2«« ed. 



The Ven, J. B, De La Salle. 1 7 

Hitherto, Louis de La Salle had fondly hoped 
that his son would, in course of time, attain the 
highest positions within the gift of the profession 
of law. He had looked upon Jean Baptiste as one 
who would fittingly continue to preserve the noble 
traditions of the family, while perpetuating its ex- 
istence. What was his surprise, his momentary 
sorrow even, when informed that he must renounce 
all such fond parental aspirations? His son had 
but one desire : that of abandoning the world, with 
all its allurements ; one ambition : that of "' entering 
the house of the Lord,** of offering each day the 
sacrifice that is unceasingly immolated from the 
rising of the sun till the going down thereof. But, 
if the child was highly favored in the call, he was 
not less blessed in the courage of his father. After 
a brief struggle, which only increased the value of 
the offering, this new Abraham resigned himself to 
the will of God, as expressed in the determination 
taken by his son. 

Christian parents, do 3^ou understand the noble- 
ness of such conduct? Do you see your own duty 
traced in the action of this Christian father? If 
urged, even at the risk of your lives, to break open 
the door of the tabernacle, to seize the sacred ves- 
sels, and to use them for profane purposes, the blood- 
stained altar-steps would attest the courage with 
which you had resisted so sacrilegious an outrage ! 
Yet what less criminal act do you commit, when 
you thwart the religious vocations of your children ; 
when you take these vessels of election, and con- 
strain them to serve a purpose for which Providence 



1 8 The Life and Work of 

had never intended them? Had such unchristian 
principles directed the conduct of Louis de La 
Salle, we should not have one of the brightest pages 
furnished for our information and encouragement 
in the extensive volume of Catholic history, while 
the Church, and, through her, society, might have 
had fewer laborers in the great cause of popular 
education. 

In the conduct of Jean Baptiste de La Salle, at 
this early age, we see that his retiring disposition 
did not indicate want of force of character. It was 
his first great sacrifice, and his Christian fortitude 
proved equal to the exigency. True courage is 
never demonstrative. Like still waters, which run 
deep, it is only the occasion which manifests its 
power. 

The angels rejoiced, and happy parents and 
friends applauded, when, on the eleventh of March, 
1662, Jean Baptiste received the tonsure from Jean 
de Maltreau, Bishop of Olonne. The ceremony 
took place in the archiepiscopal chapel of Rheims. 
'' Young de La Salle, like another Samuel, seemed 
formed for the service of the tabernacle. The ton- 
sure,'' continues his earliest biographer,"^ '* was not 
for him an idle ceremony, nor simply a semblance 
of renunciation of worldly manners and customs, as 
it is for so many others. His mouth spoke only 
what his heart dictated, when he declared that he 
took God for his portion, and that he desired no 
other inheritance. Once a cleric, Jean Baptiste de 
La Salle seems a new man. His piety, his modesty, 

* P^re Blain, 1733. 



The Ven. % B. De La Salle. 19 

the innocence of his morals, all shone with greater 
lustre than before he had vested himself with the 
surplice, and had approached the steps of the altar. 
Among the clerics, as in the midst of his school- 
mates, he was a shining example. It was a candle 
which the bishop had lighted, and had placed upon 
a candlestick, that it might spread its rays upon the 
church of Rheims. Soon this luminary was to 
shine over all France. His love for chanting the 
praises of the Lord increased each day. Providence 
was pleased soon to give this young disciple the 
opportunity to follow Him more closely/' 

At this time the University of Rheims had, for 
chancellor, Pierre Dozet, Archdeacon of Cham- 
pagne, who had been, for fifty-three years, canon in 
the cathedral of that city. He was a man of great 
information, and of profound piety.* He wished, 
before dying, to resign his canonry in favor of some 
scholar who united on his brow the double halo of 
science and virtue.f For this reason, he believed 
that he would be rendering an important service to 
the chapter of the metropolitan church of Rheims, 
by resigning his canonry in favor of the Abbe de La 
Salle. The church of Rheims, so noted for the multi- 
tude of saints and of learned persons that it has 
furnished, could felicitate itself upon the acquisition 
it had just made in the person of this holy young 
man. It was not the ambition of his family that pro- 
cured him the honor. He owed the preferment to 
the great idea that had been formed of his worth.:}: 

* Ravelet, Vie du Ven., p. 83. t Ibid., p. 7. 

X P. Garreau, S. J., Vie de M. de La Salle, p. 1 1. 



20 The Life and Work of 

Not satisfied with the general testimony in the 
Abb6 de La Salle's favor, M. Dozet desired to 
examine the young cleric. In him the experienced 
chancellor discovered one of those souls selected 
by the Almighty for a great work. He was happy 
in considering himself an effective, though distant, 
instrument in its furtherance. Abbe Dozet's resig- 
nation occurred on the ninth of July, 1666 ; his 
successor took possession of his appointment on 
the seventeenth of January following. He had not 
quite completed his sixteenth year. Once installed 
in this new dignity, ** his assiduity at choir was 
remarkable; but the devotion with which he sang 
the Divine Office attracted even greater attention. 
The old considered themselves happy in having the 
new canon in their midst; the young respected 
his virtues : even had the latter been inclined to 
less regularity, they would have found their con- 
duct condemned by his example.*'^ 

Here we find the subject of our narrative installed 
in the chapter of one of the most remarkable 
churches in France, — a body of men which, in 
1798, counted thirty-one of its former members 
bishops ; twenty had occupied the archiepiscopal 
see of Rheims ; twenty-one had worn the Roman 
purple ; four had occupied the chair of Peter, under 
the names of Sylvester II, Urban II, Adrian IV, 
and Adrian V. 

That the retiring incumbent understood the 
character and disposition of him he had chosen to 
be his successor, will be seen by the counsel he 

"" P. Garreau, S. J., Vie de M. de La Salle, p. 12. 



The Ven. J, B. De La Salle. 21 

gave, when informing him of his generous inten- 
tions. *' Remember/' said M. Dozet, ** that a canon 
should be like a Carthusian monk: he must pass 
his life in solitude and in retreat." The Venerable 
de La Salle never forgot this advice. Though 
naturally given to study, the position in which he 
now found himself rendered it a double duty 
for him to devote his whole intellectual energy 
to the acquisition of those sciences in which canons 
were required to distinguish themselves. The 
Council of Trent demands that the cathedral chap- 
ter be composed, at least two-thirds, of doctors. St. 
Charles Borromeo selected none but doctors as 
canons. A laudable pride, not to say a Christian 
sentiment, therefore, induced M. de La Salle to 
devote himself with renewed ardor to study. 
Having finished his course of philosophy at Rheims, 
he took the degree of Master of Arts ; and attracted 
by the superior advantages to be secured in the 
schools of Paris, he determined to pursue his theo- 
logical studies in that city. '* I am convinced,*' 
said he to his parents, " that there I shall find fewer 
distractions, and a more complete course/' 

Once more Providence directed the steps of His 
servant. In Paris there were three seminaries, each 
presenting special claims to the attention of indus- 
trious and piously inclined students : that designated 
as Saint Nicholas du Chardonnet; that known as 
the Bons Enfants, in which M. Olier had made a 
retreat — St. Vincent de Paul had also been con- 
nected with it, and had extended its usefulness ; 
and, finally, that of St. Sulpice, founded by M. 



22 The Life and Work of 

Olier. This last was the one selected by the Abb6 
de La Salle. Besides the ordinary advantages, 
this seminary required its students to devote a 
certain time each week to the catechising of the 
young and the ignorant. At least four thousand 
children received religious instruction in this way, 
through the instrumentality of M. Olier, who had 
rented several places in which to assemble the youth 
of his parish. St. Vincent de Paul regretted that 
he could not offer this advantage to the students 
of the seminary of the Bons Enfants. " Experience 
has taught us,'' said he, '* that, where there is a 
seminary, it is well to have a parish in which to 
exercise the seminarians.'' Thus, in preferring St. 
Sulpice, the Abbe de La Salle entered a step fur- 
ther into the designs of Providence, and prepared 
himself to be the future founder of an institute, one 
of whose chief duties would be to instruct children 
in the doctrine and the fear of the Lord. 

He entered St. Sulpice on the eighteenth of 
October, 1670, and came under the enhghtened 
direction of the celebrated M. Louis Tronson^ 
known till our day as the author of '' Subjects of 
Particular Examen," still used in many religious 
communities. M. Tronson was rector, and M. le 
Ragois de Bretonvilliers, superior. Both kindly 
received the young abbe; they admired his can- 
dor, his genial disposition, his amiable manner, and 
treated him accordingly, yet he chose neither for 
his spiritual director. At this time a distinguished 
Calvinist convert, P6re Baiiyn, was particularly 
remarked by the Abb6 de La Salle. He was 



The Ven. J, B. De La Salle. 23 

in charge of the catechism classes, to which he 
devoted himself with untiring zeal. To him the 
new student opened his heart, and begged for 
direction. M. Tronson had already selected Pere 
Baiiyn as confessor: it is not surprising that this 
should have influenced the choice of M. de La 
Salle. A single incident will show that he had not 
overrated the virtues of his spiritual guide : — 

One day Bossuet visited M. Tronson, and ex- 
pressed his regret that there could no longer be 
found in the Church such heroic examples of 
obedience as were narrated of the ancient religious. 
** It is true," replied M. Tronson, '' that such ex- 
amples are rare, and that they were numerous 
in times past; yet, through the mercy of God, 
there are still striking illustrations furnished us: 
perhaps I might give you one at this moment.** 
M. Tronson left his room, and requested a semin- 
arian to send him M. Baiiyn. The latter soon 
arrived, and, according to custom, tapped lightly at 
the door, before entering. Hearing no response, 
and supposing M. Tronson occupied, he took his 
New Testament from his pocket, and continued to 
read it, till the superior would tell him to enter. 
When the Bishop of Meaux desired to leave, M. 
Tronson accompanied him to the door, where he 
found Pere Baiiyn. ** What does this mean, sir?'* 
he said, in a severe tone. *' Is it possible that you have 
had the audacity to come to the door of my room, 
and to listen to the conversation I have held with 
Monseigneur ? . . . Leave this place immediately. . . 
such conduct is unworthy a priest.** M. Baiiyn, 



24 The Life and Work of 

without uttering a word, bowed most respectfully, 
and retired, to the great astonishment and edification 
of the Bishop of Meaux. 

It may easily be supposed that, under the direc- 
tion of so experienced a guide, the Abb6 de La 
Salle made rapid progress in virtue. One of his 
professors, afterward Superior-General of the 
Congregation of St. Sulpice, has left this enviable 
testimony in his favor : " M. de La Salle was 
constantly a faithful observer of the rules ; his 
conversation was always pleasing and becoming; 
he seems never to have given offence to any one, nor 
to have incurred any one's censured 

None can live with the disciples of M. Olier 
without partaking of their zeal for souls ; their 
influence insensibly, but surely, makes itself felt. 
With the Abbe de La Salle, the union thus cemented 
has been continued through his children. Says M. 
Poujoulat : " To assist the Christian Brothers is a 
tradition with the priests of St. Sulpice. It was 
they who, in Paris'' (as we shall see hereafter), 
** first assisted the Abbe de La Salle. Two centuries 
after, they were the first to welcome the children of 
the Venerable to the shores of the New World. 
The sons in each case were true to the early friend- 
ship."* While at St. Sulpice, the Abb6 de La 
Salle distinguished himself, not only by his piety, 
but likewise by his vigor of intellect, and the apt- 
ness with which he treated theological subjects. 
One of his biographers bears this flattering testi- 
mony, which, moreover, is substantiated by all 

* ** Vie du Fr^re Philippe,'' p. 200. 



The Ven. J. B. De La Salle. 25 

authorities on the subject : " He courageously 
wrestled with theological difficulties, and familiar- 
ized himself with ail tne subtleties that error 
opposes to the unshaken principles of truth. To 
arm himself entirely against dangerous sophisms, 
he joined practice to the advantage of serious 
and continued reading. He might be heard dis- 
cussing, not in that tone which pride and self-suffi- 
ciency would suggest, but with that assurance 
which is the fruit of zeal for the defence of truth. 
When stopped by any difficulty, he consulted his 
masters, committed their answers to writing, 
thought over their meaning at his leisure, and 
applied them when occasions presented. By observ- 
ing this method, even with ordinary talents he 
would have distinguished himself; we may thence 
form an idea of the rank he attained as a scholar, 
since Providence had so largely favored him with 
remarkable talents.*' * However, those who w^ould 
thoroughly understand the life of the Abb6 de La 
Salle, must remember that the future Founder was 
destined, during all his days, to live, labor, and suc- 
ceed, without any large share of human sympathy. 
At the time we now speak of, the young abb6 was 
to begin his painful experience of the uncertainty 
of worldly prosperity. 

When he left Rheims, in 1670, to enter the 
Seminary of St. Sulpice, his beloved mother was 
in the enjoyment of perfect health. She had smiled 
upon her son, had blessed him, and had promised 
herself to see him return, when his studies were 

* P. Garreau, S. J., ** Vie de M. L. S.,'' vol. i, p. i6. 

2 



26 The Life and Work of 

completed, to be the future guide and consoler of 
the household. But all her anticipations were 
not to be fulfilled ; little more than a year had 
elapsed when the mournful intelligence reached the 
young levite that his mother, from whom he had 
never received aught save kindness and affec- 
tion, and whose pleasure had been his delight, 
was no more, Even the sad satisfaction of kissing 
the brow of this departed parent was refused him. 
The only legacy that he prized, was her blessing. 
He had not seen her dying; he was to meet her 
only in heaven. '* Lord,'' said this affectionate son, 
*' Thou knowest how dear to me was the mother I 
have lost. If I have the happiness to find favor in 
Thy sight, I beg of Thee to take pity upon her soul : 
place her in the haven of Thy eternal rest.*' 

The shock he had just received was one that 
required all his manhood to bear up against. It 
demanded more : grace was needed ; and this he 
obtained by the outpouring of his soul into the 
bosom of the God of all consolation. Deep as was 
his draught of sorrow, the measure of his sufferings 
was to be filled within a few months, by the death 
of his beloved father, thus leaving him an orphan, 
the protector of a household, and the administrator 
of a considerable patrimony. Before expiring, the 
father had earnestly recommended the care of his 
other children to their eldest brother; the abbe, 
therefore, left the Seminary of St. Sulpice, and re- 
turned to Rheims, the better to oversee the educa- 
tion of his brothers and sisters, and to administer the 
revenues of his family. 



The Ven, J. B, De La Salle. 27 

" When/' says Pere Blain, '* one possesses the 
ecclesiastical spirit, and loves the source from 
which it is drawn, he may easily conceive the pain 
that our young abbe must have experienced, 
when obliged to interrupt his course of study ; to 
leave a house in which he delighted to dwell, and in 
departing from which he lost at once the greatest 
assistance in his studies, and the grandest models 
of priestly virtue. Filled with joy, he had entered 
the Seminary of St. Sulpice on the eighteenth of 
October, 1670 ; his heart crushed with affliction, he 
left it on the nineteenth of April, 1672 ; but in 
retiring, he bore with him the spirit of a cleric, and 
was already a man, as far as his age had allowed 
him to become so/' 

It was a difficult task for the Abbe de La Salle, 
at the age of twenty-one, to replace father and 
mother toward his family ; but he devoted his 
whole attention to his domestic affairs, provided 
for every circumstance by his discreet administra- 
tion, and foresaw each emergency by his prudence. 
At an age when so many are flattered with the 
thought of being free. La Salle was not only 
his own master, but the temptation inseparable from 
the care of many was before him. Others would 
have fallen, under such circumstances. Among 
the mental struggles that he must have experi- 
enced was, *' whether he should pursue the voca- 
tion that he had thus far selected." Many 
plausible arguments, which the world and nature 
would have pronounced unanswerable, might have 
been advanced ; but the future Founder, distrusting 



28 The Life and Work of 

his own lights, had recourse to his usual method : 
prayer, and the direction of discreet advisers ; and 
therein lay his safeguard. The friend he needed, 
and whom Providence had provided for the oc- 
casion, was found in the person of M. Roland, 
canon and theologian of Rheims. He was born the 
second of December, 1642. '' M. Roland,'* says Pere 
Garreau, '' seemed born only to do good to the 
public ; he had received great talents from God, 
and did not render them sterile, by living apart 
from those he was to benefit. His whole time was 
occupied in good works.'* The Abbe de La Salle, 
at the age of twenty-one, places himself under the 
direction of a guide who was but twenty-nine. But 
his choice was a wise one. 

His biographers give this testimony of M. Roland : 
** He was pious and enlightened, detached from, the 
world, and recommended the practice of poverty, 
humiliation, and penance. He wore a hair-shirt, 
and an iron waist-band ; slept in a modest and 
poorly-furnished room, and refused himself all that 
might savor of luxury or effeminacy. In his home 
he had a certain number of young men, whom he 
prepared for the ecclesiastical state ; he had estab- 
lished in this way a sort of preparatory seminary, 
wherein he directed their studies, and formed their 
interior. M. de La Salle was not one of his students, 
but he was one of his most docile penitents, and 
most faithful disciples." " There were other ecclesi- 
astics in the city of Rheims, quite as distinguished 
for their learning and their piety ; none equalled 
him in his zeal for the Christian education of the 



The Ven. y, B. De La Salle, 29 

poor/' In 1670, M. Roland preached the Lenten 
sermons in the city of Rouen. During this time he 
held frequent conversations with the pastor of Saint 
Amand, under whose direction he had spent the 
first six months after ordination. He also frequently 
saw Pere Barre, with whom he contracted a holy and 
lasting friendship. These two founders of the 
Sisters of Providence gave M. Roland a full idea 
of the object and the end of the pious association 
which the)^ had organized. 

*' No one," says F. Lucard, " could at that time 
undertake any good in Rouen, without becoming 
acquainted with Madame de Maillefer. Born at 
Rheims, of the Dubois family, which was allied with 
that of M. de La Salle, she had at first been ver}^ 
vain and selfish. Harsh toward the poor, she was 
extremely careful to procure for herself all that 
could gratify her sensuality, or pamper her love of 
luxury. Like Dives, she one day gave a cruel re- 
fusal to a poor person, whom she might, by an alms, 
have saved from misery, but who, unfortunately, 
died the following night in one of her stables, 
where the servants had sheltered him. Stung with 
remorse, she at once entered seriously into herself. 
The sight of her spiritual condition aflfrighted her, 
and she was converted to the Lord. From that 
hour she endeavored to obliterate her past record, 
by the most heroic acts of penance and humility ; 
she assisted Pere Barr6 in all his charitable under- 
takings, and M. Roland, who had known her at 
Rheims, met her occasionally. She promised to 
found a school for boys in her native city. About 



30 The Life and Work of 

this time the ' Remonstrances' of M. Demia 
appeared. They produced such effect upon M. 
Roland, that he determined to establish schools for 
the poor, under his immediate direction. He 
realized his design, by establishing the Sisters of 
the Infant Jesus. Madame de Maillefer obtained 
a worthy daughter of Pere Barrels congregation, 
Sister Francoise, to be the superior of this new 
community.'' The Abbd de La Salle occasionally 
saw the members of the new Society, when he 
visited his spiritual director. His heart was in 
their work, as soon as he had learned its charitable 
object. M. Roland found it an easy task to interest 
him in the rising undertaking ; and thus, without 
his knowing it, was La Salle gradually preparing 
for his own great labor. 

In the midst of these circumstances, the Abbe de 
La Salle did not forget the duties of his position. 
He remembered that a stewardship was confided to 
him, and he did not wish to be an unjust servant. 
Six talents had been given him, and our histor}'- 
shows that he caused them to bear interest for his 
Master. He established a rule for his brothers and 
sisters, to which they were obliged to submit. The 
hours of rising, those for meals, the time for study 
and recreation, — all was determined with remark- 
able foresight. He felt that order was heaven's first 
law, and that, where happiness was possible, it was 
probable only where order reigned. His brothers 
and sisters, seeing that he was the first to fulfil the 
injunctions given, cheerfully submitted ; and the 
spirit of union with which heaven blessed these 



The Veil, J, B. De La Salle. 31 

orphans, took from the rule the monotony it would 
otherwise have inspired. 

The Abbe de La Salle's general object in select- 
ing M. Roland as his spiritual director, was to 
secure a guide who would replace P^re Baiiyn ; his 
immediate desire was to learn the will of God as to 
his future course. Pere Roland's virtue had merited 
the entire confidence of M. de La Salle ; the latter, in 
return, gave him complete obedience, and, in submis- 
sion to his wise counsels, determined, without further 
delay, to enter the ecclesiastical state, by taking upon 
himself its irrevocable obligations. In the absence 
of Cardinal Barberini, Archbishop of Rheims, he 
received minor orders from the hands of Charles 
de Bourbon, Bishop of Soissons, on the seventeenth 
of March, 1668. The Church, on that day, was 
celebrating the feast of St. Patrick, whose children, 
at that very hour, were sealing with their blood 
their attachment to the faith which their patron had 
given them. Thousands of their descendants were 
afterward to become children and disciples of this 
young levite. On Pentecost Sunday, 1672, M. de 
La Salle advanced another step toward his sublime 
vocation, by receiving subdeaconship at Cambrai, 
from Ladislas Jounart, archbishop and duke of that 
city. As he progressed toward the object of his 
desires. Providence permitted that many churches 
should divide the honor of having initiated the 
future Founder of the Brothers of the Christian 
Schools. He wished to return to Paris to receive 
university honors, but his domestic duties prevent- 
ing, he obtained this distinction in his native city. 



32 The Life and Work of 

By the advice of M. Roland, M. de La Salle 
went to Paris, in 1675, and was there ordained 
deacon by the Bishop of Bethlehem. '* Let me 
be permitted,'* writes P^re Blain, ** without wishing 
to compare our young deacon to the first who 
received this honor in the Church, let me be 
permitted to apply to him those words which the 
Holy Ghost uses in canonizing Saint Stephen : ' He 
was full of peace J and of the Holy Spirit' His 
modest demeanor, the tranquil and even tenor of 
his countenance, inspired every one with this favor- 
able impression toward him ; more than once, when 
at the altar, in prayer or elsewhere, people thought 
that they perceived in him another Stephen, whose 
face shone as that of an angel." 

Thus we see that six years were spent in pre- 
paring for the solemn act which was to be the 
culmination of the Abbe de La Sailers desires. He 
had taken no step without counsel; he had not 
advanced without having first assured himself, by 
the wisest means, that he was going in the direc- 
tion in which Providence desired him to proceed. 
What, then, must have been his joy, his soul-filHng 
happiness, when, on the ninth of April, 1678, 
Easter-Eve, he knelt before Mgr. Le Tellier, his 
archbishop, and received at his hands the sacerdotal 
unction, in the Cathedral of Rheims ! 

Ordained priest, the Abb6 de La Salle thought 
only of approaching the altar. He redoubled his 
fervor in preparing to offer his first Mass. His 
whole life had been a preparation for the bright 
day he had just passed ; and the following morning. 



The Ven. J, B. De La Satle. 3^ 

while the Church celebrated the feast of the resur- 
rection, La Salle offered up the divine sacrifice, the 
unbloody repetition of Calvary*s drama, through 
which are taken away the sins of the world. No 
pomp attached to the abbe's first offering. No 
father and mother were there to receive from the 
consecrated hands of their first-born the Bread of 
Angels. No numerous retinue of friends assembled 
to do honor to this joyful occasion. In silence and 
retirement, alone, in converse with God, the young 
priest offered the Lamb without stain. He was not 
long to enjoy the quiet which was his on this occasion. 
All his biographers agree with Pere Blain, in 
saying that "- persons afterward went to his Mass 
to be edified, to be impressed by, and to share, his 
piety. The assistants were recollected and touched ; 
they felt themselves renewed, when witnessing the 
piety, the profound respect, the majestic air, with 
which he performed the divine ceremonies. As he 
retired from the altar, the worshippers still remained 
m their places, that they might partake, as he 
passed by, of the graces with which his soul had 
been filled. His thanksgiving completed, he found 
himself surrounded by numbers who insisted upon 
receiving his advice. He was another Moses, who 
returned from conversing with God, and who 
brought with him a heavenly light, which he shed 
upon all those who approached him. His youth 
was no obstacle to the conhdence which his piety 
inspired ; for, if he was a young priest, he already 
appeared a great saint.*' * 

• "Vie de J. B. de La Salle," vol. i, p. 131. 



34 ^^^ Life and Work of 

Such manifestations of confidence were a source 
of suffering and humiliation for him in whom 
they were centred. "Many recommended them- 
selves to his prayers, but he answered that he 
was the one most in need of being prayed for. The 
hour in which he would devote himself entirely to 
the salvation of others, had not yet arrived. He 
left the church without heeding those who so 
earnestly asked his advice. In the quietude of 
his home, he devoted himself to the duties imposed 
by his guardianship. When he had given the re- 
quired time to this obligation, he retired to his room, 
where study and prayer occupied the hours in 
which he was not engaged in chanting the praises 
of God among the canons, in the cathedral church 
ofRheims."* 

* ''Vie de M. de La SaUe/* voL i, p. 28. 



/ 



The Ven. J. B. De La Salle. 35 



CHAPTER III. 

Abb6 de La Salle's Trials. — He desires to exchange his Canonry for a 
Curateship. — Mgr. Le Tellier refuses. — Death of M. Roland. — Sisters 
of the Holy Child Jesus. — M. de La Salle procures them Letters- 
patent. — Renewed Trials. — M. Nyel and Companion. — Efforts to 
establish Communities for the Instruction of the Children of the Poor. 
— Gerard Groot, St. Joseph Calasanzio, Venerable Cesar de Bus, M. 
Demia, Blessed Peter Fourier, Peter Tranchot, P^re Barre, M. 
Nyel. — M. de La Salle providentially rescued. — He lodges M. Nyel 
and Companion. — M. Dorigny. — School at St. Jacques. 

So far La Salle has appeared as the student, 
anxious to realize the designs of God, and as the 
faithful administrator of an important stewardship. 
Apart from the trials and the agony of heart to 
which the bereavement of his parents had subjected 
him, we have found few difficulties in his way. 
We now come to a period of his life in which the 
immediate preparations for his great mission are 
manifested ; and wherein we perceive that, like all 
the chosen soldiers of Christ, he had to tread the 
painful way of the cross. Much as La Salle was 
worthy of admiration as a cleric, he appears in all 
the dignity of his character as a priest. To oflFer 
the holy sacrifice of the Mass was his greatest de- 
light. In the early days of his ministry sickness 
was frequently his portion. Yet, even in such cases, 
** he often found sufficient strength in his courage 
to satisfy his devotion ; and he was seen many times 



36 The Life and Work of 

painfully walking alone, or assisted by others, to the 
altar/* Indeed, he had been but a few days priest 
when the Abb6 Roland desired to give his zeal a 
wider field of labor. He proposed that M. de La 
Salle should exchange his canonry for a parish. 
The director and the disciple agreed that, since 
this would afford an opportunity to save many 
souls, it was a desirable step to take. The Abbe 
de La Salle's only wish was to procure the glory 
of God, as far as possible : such an offer appeared 
to him a call from above. Yet he was willing in 
this, as in all else, to submit to the guidance of his 
superiors. 

To appreciate the heroism of this determination, 
it is well to remember that parishes were at that 
time anything but desirable, in a worldly sense. 
*' The position of parish-priest/' says M. Faillon, 
*' had fallen into such discredit, that, from time 
immemorial, previous to M. Olier, no person of 
distinguished family connections had been known 
to fill a curacy.'' P6re Rapin also admits that 
" the care of parishes was so little esteemed that, in 
Paris, even the most considerable parishes were 
given to strangers, as positions unworthy of per- 
sons of distinction." 

However, great difficulties presented themselves 
in the way of making the exchange. The curate- 
ship of the parish proposed to La Salle demanded 
a person of mature age and experience. He had 
neither. The burden seemed too great for his 
youth. Besides, he had his family still in charge. 
Was he to abandon these natural, legitimate, and 



The VeH. y, B, De La Salle. 3; 

essential duties? Could he combine the responsi- 
bilities of pastor with those of a tutorship? Either 
M. Roland had not thought of these things, or else 
he was impelled by an extraordinary grace. How- 
ever, God inspires many pious designs, whose 
execution He often defers, or permits to be accom- 
plished by others, who did not at first think of such 
undertakings. Inspired by God, David proposes 
to build a temple, yet he is informed by the pro- 
phet Nathan that the execution of this project is 
reserved for his son. St. Louis makes a vow to go 
in person to deliver the holy places from the hands 
of the Mahometans, and yet he sees himself discom- 
fited in a work that religion had inspired. " After 
all,'* continues P^re Blain, *' perhaps God was thus 
preparing the Abbe de La Salle to relinquish, not 
immediately, but in a short while, not only his 
canonry, but all his earthly goods. Perhaps, even 
in the eternal designs, he was thus to draw upon 
himself the grace, which was afterward given him, 
to leave all, as did the apostles, to follow Jesus 
Christ, poor, naked, and abject. 

The intelligence soon spread throughout Rheims 
that the Abbe de La Salle intended to exchange 
his canonry for a poor curateship. His relatives 
became alarmed. They had certain intentions upon 
his position, and expected that it would remain in 
the family. They made known their feelings to 
the canons of the chapter ; word was sent to Mgr. 
Le Tellier, inducing him to refuse his consent. The 
prelate needed no pressing to take this step. He 
understood and appreciated the greatness of soul 



38 The Life and Work of 

of the incumbent, and did not wish to deprive his 
chapter of one so edifying. When the latter present- 
ed himself before the archbishop to make known 
his intentions, he was told that he was to retain the 
position to which he had already given such honor. 
This word was an oracle for the Abbe de La Salle ; 
he did not make the slightest objection. False 
virtue is headstrong and persistent ; it desires only 
to follow its own ideas, and looks upon everything 
that contradicts it as so much opposition to the 
voice of heaven ; true virtue, on the contrary, mis- 
trusts its own light, submits at once, and knows not 
what it is to oppose lawful authority. 

Soon after, Providence offered M. de La Salle a 
rich field in which to labor for the good of souls. 
His friend, M. Roland, lay dangerously ill at his 
country-seat. Perceiving that his last hour was at 
hand, he sent for M. de La Salle, and named him 
his executor. ** I confide to you, also,*' said the dying 
clergyman, ^' my newly established congregation of 
the Sisters of the Child Jesus : this is the noblest 
inheritance you will receive from my profound 
friendship. Your zeal will cause it to prosper. 
Through love for the souls of poor children, 
purchased with the blood of Jesus Christ, you 
will complete the work I have begun. Rev. Pere 
Barre will, in all this, be your sure model and 
guide.'' M. Roland gave his soul to God on the 
twenty-seventh of April, 1678. He was but thirty- 
six years old. 

M. de La Salle was gradually brought into the 
paths in which he was afterward to walk with such 



The Ven. ^. B. De La Salle. 39 

fapid strides. He was already acquainted with the 
details of the management of a numerous tamily. 
Providence now had imposed upon him the direc- 
tion of a partially-established religious community. 
He considered the dying words of his former 
spiritual director as those of a departed father. He 
foresaw that, in promising to fulfil them, he would 
be placing himself in many new difficulties; but it 
sufficed that the spiritual good of his neighbor was 
in question, to induce his consent. No sooner had 
the worthy priest breathed his last, than M. de La 
Salle took charge of the infant community. What 
he had foreseen, occurred immediately after M. 
Roland's death : the dissolution of the Daughters 
of the Child Jesus was spoken of. The mayor, and 
other authorities, declared that a new religious 
community was an additional burden upon the city, 
and that there was already a large number of such 
associations. The Sisters believed themselves des- 
tined to speedy destruction. Their struggling 
society, which M. Roland had so dearly loved, 
which he had sustained with all his influence, — this 
society, which he had endowed with his wealth at 
death, would have fallen shortly after him, had 
not the faithful depositary of his last will and 
testament come to its assistance. He addressed 
the city magistrates in its favor ; the archbishop, 
at his request, bestowed the greatest marks of in- 
terest upon it, and promised, through his brother, 
Louis XIV's minister, to obtain letters-patent for 
the new society. These were granted as soon as 
asked, and were afterward registered at the pre- 



40 The Life and Work of 

late*s expense. They were placed in the hands of 
M. de La Salle, and from that moment the good 
Sisters looked upon their new father as one to whom 
they owed at least a great part of the esteem and 
affection they had previously bestowed upon M. 
Roland. Free from all disquietude as to their 
future, they labored with confidence, under the 
conduct of the canon who had procured their legal 
existence. Jean-Baptiste de La Salle began to be 
considered at Rheims as a public benefactor. The 
Daughters of the Child Jesus were not, perhaps, 
aware of an earlier obligation under which this new 
protector of theirs had placed them. In 1677 M. 
Roland had gone to Paris to obtain the legal exist- 
ence of his society, through the influence of the 
archbishop; but the latter paid no attention to his 
request. He allowed M. Roland to remain in the 
antechamber, without even giving him an audience. 
Sadl}'' disappointed, the holy priest returned to 
Rheims, and poured the anguish of his soul into the 
bosom of his nearest friend, M. de La Salle, who 
not only consoled, but encouraged him to persevere 
in his work, assuring him that Providence would 
bring all to a proper issue in His own good time. 

In the lives of those whom God selects as ex- 
amples by which we are to direct ourselves, it will 
be noticed that continued prosperity was never 
their portion. '* No cross, no crown,'* is a motto 
applicable to the career of every person whose name 
is held in veneration by the Church. This the 
Abb6 de La Salle experienced shortly after his suc- 
cessful efforts in formally establishing the Sisters of 



The Ven, y. B, De La Salle. 41 

the Holy Child Jesus. One would suppose that a 
conduct remarkable as his for its zeal and self-sacri- 
fice would have received naught but praise ; yet at 
this moment the anger, the jealousy, and the ill-will 
of the world, were let loose upon him. His public 
trials were to begin. 

His household affairs were administered with 
such rare prudence, he spoke so little to others of 
what he was doing for his brothers and sisters, that 
public curiosity was brought to bear upon his 
actions ; solely occupied with his domestic affairs, 
responsible only to God and to his selected superi- 
ors, he acquainted none others with the course of 
life he pursued with those under his care. What 
the world did not know, it imagined ; what it could 
not understand, it misinterpreted. Gossip under- 
took to explain matters ; exaggerated reports were 
circulated. The more than fatherly care with which 
he kept his tender charges aloof from everything 
savoring of worldliness and vanity, was set down as 
unbearable harshness. It was bringing disgrace 
upon a highly respectable family. It was transfer- 
ring the cloister into the world. He had made of 
his household a model of virtue and piety, which 
was a living protest against the frivolity of the fault- 
finders. This is what could not be endured, and 
it was seriously discussed whether young persons, 
subject to such regulations as their brother had im- 
posed upon them, should not be withdrawn from 
so impracticable and unworldly a guardianship. 
But the persecution only raised him in the estima- 
tion of all well-meaning and intelligent persons. 



42 The Life and Work of 

These are terrible trials for one who still clings 
to creatures, and who has not made an entire sacri- 
fice of himself to God ; but M. de La Salle humbly 
submitted to all the attacks of which he was the 
victim. He preserved his equanimity; he changed 
nothing in his conduct; rather he endeavored to 
render it more in keeping with what he believed 
he owed to the Almighty. Previously he thought 
that he had reduced his manner of living to what 
was solely necessary ; after renewed examination, 
he found that there were still superfluities; he 
reformed his dress, and rendered it still more de- 
spicable in the eyes of a world which seeks but 
vanity ; he became more generous to the poor, and 
more frequently visited the sick. On several 
occasions he must have called upon the " Man of 
Sorrows," while under these trials, and in the lan- 
guage of one whose heart felt the keenness of 
affliction, imposed upon him in the home of his 
friends, he must have repeated to himself: 

" Lead, kindly Light, amid the encircling gloom, lead Thou me on ! 
•K- ^ -X- -X- 4(- ^ * 

So long Thy power has kept me sure, it still will lead me on, 
O'er moor and fen, o'er crag and torrent, till the night is gone/' ** 

The day for the life-work to which Providence 
called him, was at hand. It had an insignificant 
beginning ; one which made the worldly-wise to 
smile ; still it was a work which, in its continuation 
and successful establishment, has given the Abb6 
de La Salle the enviable title, Benefactor of 
Mankind. 

* John Henry Newman. 



The Ven. y. B. De La Salle. 43 

While thus exposed to the gibes and sneers of a 
world which could not understand, and therefore did 
not respect, his intentions, the Abbe de La Salle was 
adding personal trials to those which Providence 
allowed to befall him. One of the chief difficulties 
he experienced at this time was to resist a persistent 
inclination to sleep. He resolved to overcome this 
enemy of meditation and spiritual communing with 
God. He ordered his servant to wake him every 
morning at four o'clock, and not to leave the 
room till he saw him dressed. The valet obeyed 
these instructions implicitly. As soon as the Abbe 
de La Salle had made his toilet, he began his prayer, 
but sleep soon overcame him ; a continued and 
lengthy struggle ensued. He entered into a holy 
anger against himself, and, in the fervor of his de- 
termination, went so far as to kneel upon broken 
shells ; no sooner did he fall asleep than the sharp 
pain awoke him. God was pleased with his good- 
will, and gave him a complete victory over the 
enemy he so vigorousl}^ fought against. 

During this time M. de La Salle did not forget to 
watch over and to protect the interests of the 
Daughters of the Child Jesus. One day, in the 
month of June, as he approached the door of the 
convent, he was met by two travellers, careworn 
and fatigued : one was of mature years, the other 
was young, and apparently the former's domestic. 
In them, without knowing it. La Salle was meeting 
the first two laborers who were to join him in 
tilling a field, some of the former workers in which 
we shall forthwith introduce to our readers. 



44 Th^ Life mid Work of 

Congregations of ladies had been established in 
large numbers. Their usefulness was generally 
admitted, and their relative missions of labor were 
easily determined. Many attempts had been made 
to establish similar orders among men, whose office 
was chiefly to be the education of sons of the labor- 
ing and middle classes. So far none had succeeded 
in France. 

In the fourteenth century, a canon named Gerard 
Groot, born, in 1340, at Deventer, in Holland, traced 
the first outlines of an institute, which, in many 
respects, resembled that to be established by the 
Venerable de La Salle. At first a canon at Utrecht, 
and afterward at Aix-la-Chapelle, he abandoned his 
canonry, and established a body of clerics known 
as Brothers of the Common Life, to teach elemen- 
tary schools, where children might learn reading, 
writing, and catechism. The Brothers supplied 
their wants, by copying books. The institute was 
approved, in 1376, by Gregory XI. The holy 
founder of this meritorious work died in 1384. 

In November, 1597, St. Joseph Calasanzio opened 
a public free school, for the reception of indigent 
scholars, in Rome : the pastor of St. Dorotheus, in 
Trastevere, had given him a large room for this 
purpose. St. Joseph Calasanzio was at this time a 
member of the Confraternity of the Holy Apostles, 
whose mission was to distribute alms to the poor. 
Seeing the sad state of ignorance in which youths, 
unable to pay for their schooling, were found, he 
sought a religious order, whose object was to take 
charge of such. Finding none, he established a 



The Ven. J. B, De La Salle. 45 

teaching body. Two priests joined him in the good 
work. This school soon numbered several hundred 
children. They Avere taught the catechism, read- 
ing, writing, and arithmetic. Rome had thus early 
the honor, which very modern institutions claim 
for themselves : that of gratuitously furnishing the 
children who attended their schools with all articles 
of stationery, and such books as they needed. The 
congregation instituted by St. Joseph Calasanzio 
was recognized, in 1607, by Paul V, and four years 
afterward was established as a regular congrega- 
tion ; and the members were permitted to take the 
three ordinary vows of religion, to which a fourth 
was added, by which they devoted themselves to 
teaching. These religious were known as the 
Fathers of the Pious Schools. St. Joseph Cala- 
sanzio died in 1648, at the advanced age of ninety- 
two years. His schools prove their usefulness by 
the fact of their continuance till the present time. 
Still their diffusion has been quite limited. 

In 1592, Venerable Cesar de Bus founded the 
Congregation of the Christian Doctrine at Cavail- 
lon, in the diocese of Avignon. It was approved 
by Clement VIII, and was composed of priests 
and laymen, who were united by the vow of per- 
severance. They devoted themselves chiefly to 
the instruction of the poor in the doctrines of 
the Church. On certain days their pupils held 
public discussions among themselves, upon some 
point of Christian Doctrine. Venerable de Bus 
died in 1607. The better to succeed in their 
mission, his disciples opened public free schools, 



46 The Life and Work of 

some of which continued in the south of France till 
the Revolution. 

In this connection, there is another name worthy 
of honorable mention : M. Demia, a priest of Bourg, 
was named archpriest of Bresse, by His Grace, the 
Archbishop of Lyons. He was charged with the 
partial visitation of the archdiocese. In 1664, while 
fulfilling his visitorial duties, he was painfully 
impressed by the ignorance of the youth he met ; 
and feeling the necessity of remedying so sad 
a state of affairs, he addressed a petition to the 
merchants and the magistrates upon the subject. 
The latter paid little attention to his remonstrances, 
but several charitably disposed persons enabled him 
to open a school in St. George's parish. This did 
not satisfy his zeal ; he again addressed the magis- 
trates, but this time so eloquently, that they were 
constrained to heed his appeal. His words were so 
striking, that it was thought proper to have them 
printed for general distribution throughout the 
country ; among others, M. de La Salle received a 
copy. The city authorities then decided to appro- 
priate a sufficient sum to found a school, where the 
children would be taught the catechism, reading and 
writing. In 1672, there were five such schools in 
Lyons; the children were taught gratuitously, and 
M. Demia was named inspector-general of these 
establishments. He immediately formulated the 
most precise instructions as to their direction. On 
certain days the children gave public exhibitions of 
their knowledge of the catechism, orthography. 
Christian politeness, and the method of mental 



The Ven. J. B. De La Salle. 47 

prayer. Those who distinguished themselves were 
rewarded by the gift of clothes, or other necessary 
articles, for they were generally indigent. The 
direction and perpetuation of the schools re- 
quired a body of teachers. To succeed in securing 
this necessary and vital element, M. Demia held 
quarterly meetings of priests and laymen, who 
consented to devote a certain time to the teaching of 
poor children. These masters placed themselves 
under the protection of the Blessed Virgin, each 
year, during the octave of the Nativity, and made 
a pilgrimage to Notre Dame de Fourvieres. 

The Abbe Demia next gave his attention to the 
secular teachers in Lyons. A decree was issued on 
the seventh of May, 1674, by which all persons were 
forbidden to direct any primary schools without the 
authorization of the archbishop. They were, more- 
over, to promise faithful observance of the regula- 
tions established by the Abbe Demia. At fixed 
intervals these masters assembled to learn such new 
regulations as had been prepared for their guidance. 
The pastors of the various parishes were to give a 
strict account of the conduct of the teachers withm 
their jurisdiction, and, from time to time, inspectors 
were delegated to report upon the condition of the 
schools. The reputation acquired by M. Demia's 
enterprise was such that numerous petitions were 
received, requesting his assistance for the estab- 
lishment of similar institutions in other dioceses. 
The bishops of Grenoble, Agde, Toulon, and 
Chalons, wrote most pressingly, to obtain teachers ; 
they even sent young men to be trained by M. Demia, 



48 The Life and Work of 

who was afterward to return these newly formed 
teachers to their respective dioceses. He would 
have desired to employ none save ecclesiastics, 
and for this purpose he spent his private fortune in 
establishing a seminary at Lyons. Its object was 
twofold: to form country curates and primary 
school-masters. The community thus established 
was named St. Charles.' It was opened in 1672, 
approved by the archbishop in 1676, and received 
its legal status by letters-patent, under date of the 
month of May, 1680. Without residing in the 
seminary, M. Demia directed it by a school-board, 
composed in part of ecclesiastics, and partly of lay- 
men. In 1680, there were about twelve masters, 
and as many assistant teachers, all ecclesiastics. M. 
Demia died on the twenty-third of October, 1689, 
being fifty-three years old. Despite the trouble he 
bad taken to establish his institute, the school for the 
formation of teachers soon failed. Gradually the 
institution for the training of country curates lost 
its distinctive character, and became an ordinary 
seminary. 

However, previous to the Venerable de La Salle, 
the founding of institutes, composed exclusively of 
laymen who would devote themselves to the edu- 
cation of youth, had been thought of. Blessed 
Peter Fourier Mattaincourt, founder of the Congre- 
gation of Our Lady, for the education of girls, had 
also formed a community for the instruction of poor 
boys in villages and cities. He could not obtain its 
approval in Rome. Those who had joined in the 
good work soon became disgusted, and returned 



The Ven. J. B. De La Salle. 49 

into the world. In 1654, Peter Tranchot, a lawyer, 
established a primary school, in which he was as- 
sisted by his nephew, but the undertaking did not 
find imitators. Toward 1600, Francis Perdouls 
founded, schools of a similar kind in Blois, Tours, 
and in the villages, but his initiative was equally 
barren in perpetuators. 

At Paris, in 1678, the Rev. Pere Barr6, founder 
of the Congregation of the Ladies of St. Maur, 
desired to establish seminaries for the training of 
lay teachers. The project failed. The young 
persons who entered, seemed to think much of 
themselves, and very little of the vocation they had 
embraced. They gradually looked upon their pro- 
fession as one which they might render pecuniarily 
profitable, and thus the love of money lost them the 
grace of perseverance. At the end of a short trial 
they abandoned the schools, which forthwith were 
closed. Mgr. de Buzanvil, of Beauvais, attempted 
to form a seminary of school-masters, whom he 
would afterward have sent throughout his diocese, 
but he could not secure the funds needed to make 
his work permanent. At Rouen, a pious layman, 
M. Nyel, who was appointed by the city hospital 
to teach the poor children, endeavored to establish 
a body of teachers. He it was who, with a compan- 
ion, was met at the door of the convent of the Holy 
Child Jesus by their future father, the Venerable 
deLa Salle. They were sent by Madame Maillefer 
to establish a school in Rheims. Those who have 
read the lives of celebrated servants of God, may 
have noticed that, shortly before definitely calling 



50 The Life and Work of 

them to a great work, He allowed them to see some 
special indication of His protection. Thus is St. 
Paul stricken with blindness, while on his way to 
persecute the Christians. He afterward receives 
spiritual and bodily sight at the same moment. St 
Norbert, while riding a prancing steed, is suddenly 
thrown to the ground. His external appearance, 
while prone in the mud, is but an imperfect symbol 
of the doleful condition of his soul. Grace touches 
him at the moment ; he sees the vanity of worldly 
pleasures, and forthwith becomes an apostle. St. 
Ignatius, a gay cavalier, lives as the world demands ; 
he obeys the behest it gives its votaries, to demean 
themselves in pleasure-seeking. His heart is vain, 
yet it is good. A wound he receives gives him 
the retirement he needs. He asks for something 
romantic to read, and his nurses, having no other 
volumes at hand, give him the ^^ Lives of the Saints,'' 
in which he finds truths stranger than fiction. 
Naturally noble-hearted, he asks why he cannot do 
what others have accomplished. In that moment 
was cast the seed which afterward bloomed into 
the Society of Jesus. St. Patrick is sent as a 
prisoner into the land which he is, in other days, to 
convert ; St. Vincent de Paul is made a galley-slave, 
that he may fully know the misery he is afterward 
to relieve. The Abbe de Ranee is called to serve 
Christ, when he had least thought of his Master. 
M. Herman hears the sound of voices chanting 
matins. His soul is filled with a new harmony, and 
henceforth, instead of being the composer of secular 
songs and pieces de salon, he is to be the song-master 



The Ven. J. B. De La Salle. 5 1 

of the most blessed sacrament. Thus God calls His 
own, by placing them under obligations that only 
a lifetime can partially repay. 

So, too, was it with the Venerable de La Salle. 
About the year 168 1, shortly before meeting M. 
Nyel, an accident befell him, from which he nar- 
rowly escaped with his life. Returning from the 
country one day, a fearful snow-storm overtook 
him. The roads were covered, leaving no trace by 
which travellers might be guided. An impetuous 
wind drove large quantities of drifting snow into 
the gulches along the roadsides. M. de La Salle 
lost his way, and, missing his footing, found himself 
precipitated into a deep ravine. In vain did he call 
for assistance : the wild winds drowned his voice. 
His struggles seemed only to render his position 
more precarious ; each effort to regain his footing 
sank him deeper in this snowy grave. Nothing 
appeared left for him to do, save to recommend his 
soul to God, for, in a short while, he must inevitably 
be covered by the fast-faUing flakes. After a fervent 
prayer he made another effort, which, fortunately, 
was successful, but it was accompanied by such 
physical exertion that a rupture, which then declared 
itself, ever afterward reminded him of his provi- 
dential deliverance. He never could mention this 
merciful intervention of Providence, without the 
greatest tokens and expressions of gratitude. 

When M. Nyel entered Rheims, he had left at 
Rouen the nucleus of a new religious community. 
There were twenty clerics attached to his work. 
These were known as Brothers ; and M. Nyel came 



5 2 The Life and Work of 

to the city of the early French kings, bearing the 
name of Brother Gabriel. His object in presenting 
himself at the Convent of the Child Jesus was to 
ask momentary hospitality ; his instructions were 
to reside permanently with Madame Maillefer's 
father. M. Nyel was then about fifty-five years 
old. When the Venerable de La Salle had read the 
letter which M. Nyel and companion brought from 
Madame Maillefer, he offered to lodge the two 
strangers in his own house. " An inviolable secret/* 
said he, '' must be kept as to the essential object of 
your arrival in Rheims; your staying with M. 
Dubois, the father of your generous benefactress, 
might arouse suspicions, and seriously impair the 
success of your work ; the least indiscretion on your 
part may create numerous obstacles, and cause you 
to fail, when you would feel most assured of success. 
Be prudent. Rather stay with me for a week or 
more ; no one is ignorant that my house is open to 
receive all strange ecclesiastics. Your dress differs 
but little from ours ; you will be taken for some 
country curate, and, in the meantime, we will be 
able to think over the best means to secure the reali- 
zation of your object."^ At the end of a week you 
will leave me, and make a pilgrimage to Notre 
Dame de Liesse, whither your devotion seems to 
call you. During your journey I shall do all in my 
power to prepare everything favorably ; and, per- 
haps, when you return, you may be able to open a 
free school." f M. Nyel gratefully accepted the 
generous offer. M. de La Salle had at heart the 

* F. Lucard. t P. Garreau. 



The Veiu y. B, De La Salle. 53 

success of this good work, and consulted as to the 
best method of assuring its permanency. " The 
only means," said his counsellors, *' that we see to 
establish these schools successfully, is to place them 
under the protection of some pastor with sufficient 
zeal to direct them, the required discretion not to 
betray the secret, and the generosity demanded to 
support the enterprise." 

We shall see, later, the reasons which these dis- 
creet persons had for taking so many precautions. 
The writing-masters, as they were called, would 
naturally look upon such a public free school as M. 
N3^el sought to establish, as one likely to take away 
part of their patronage. M. de La Salle was en- 
couraged to foster the work, and it was unanimously 
admitted that the Abbe Dorigny would be the one 
most likely to interest himself in this undertaking. 
His personal qualifications and his position enabled 
him to do so. Mild and conciliating in character, 
he also possessed the firmness required to direct 
this work, and was, moreover, extremely zealous 
for the spiritual and intellectual welfare of his 
parishioners. By a happy coincidence, this worthy 
pastor desired, at this time, to establish a public free 
school ; he was prevented from putting his inten- 
tions into immediate execution only by the difficulty 
he experienced in finding a suitable person to place 
at the head of the establishment. We may easily 
conceive the joy with which he accepted M. de La 
Salle's proposition. He agreed to lodge M. Nyel 
and companion in his own house, and to feed and 
clothe them for the modest sum of one hundred and 



54 The Life and Work of 

fifty francs, which Madame de Maillefer had stipu- 
lated to pay annually for each. These wise pre- 
cautions had the desired result. M. Nyel opened 
the school under the patronage of the pastor of St. 
Maurice : the writing-masters, seeing the protection 
under which the establishment was opened, made 
no resistance. The new teacher had a large num- 
ber of children, and his school prospered. 

Mme. de Croyeres, a pious and wealthy lady, had 
watched the success of the modest enterprise with 
great interest ; and being desirous that the parish 
of Saint-Jacques should enjoy the same blessing, 
she wrote to M. de La Salle, asking that a similar 
school be opened in her district, the expenses of 
which she agreed to defray. Providence manifested 
His will in the case, for three young men presented 
themselves at this time to M. Nyel, asking to be 
enrolled among the new teachers. After receiving 
some lessons in pedagogy, they were sent, under 
the direction of M. Nyel, to open the new school. 
It was found that the sum fixed for their 
sustenance was insufficient, and M. de La Salle 
generously agreed to defray the additional expense 
from his private fortune. Another link was thus 
attaching him to the new work. Still the ardor 
with which he devoted himself to these chari- 
table undertakings, did not prevent him from 
pursuing his theological studies. In 1681 he 
received the doctor's cap from the faculty of 
Rheiras. He sustained his thesis so successfully, 
that many persons gave him the expression of 
their fullest confidence ; they were surprised to find 



The Ven. J. B. De La Salle. 55 

that one so young should display so profound a 
knowledge of the human heart. The deep studies 
he had made, his recollection, his tender piety, and 
the daily practice of mental prayer, had enriched 
his mind with light that is usually the result of 
prolonged experience. 

One would suppose that, by his studies, the 
Venerable de La Salle was unintentionally depriv- 
ing himself of the taste which he manifested for the 
establishment and direction of these public free 
schools, in which none but the most elementary 
branches were taught. The contrary was the case. 
It is only littleness that finds itself above becoming 
a child for children, and a beginner for beginners in 
learning. True greatness never considers it very 
difficult to adapt itself to the capacity of youth. 
How far this was so with the Venerable de La Salle, 
we shall see farther on. 

Till this time society had been divided chiefly into 
two classes : the ecclesiastical state and the profes- 
sions on the one hand, and laborers and mechanics 
on the other. The rapid changes made in society 
since the invention of printing ; the increased com- 
mercial facilities opened by the discovery of hitherto 
unknown worlds, the further distribution of labor, 
had altered the aspect of the middle classes, and 
demanded a wider range of intelligence among the 
masses. This it was the mission of La Salle to 
accomplish. He was to give a broader scope to the 
grade of instruction furnished the people, and, at the 
same time, establish a body of teachers who would 
prevent this instruction from becoming less Christian. 



56 



The Life and Work of 



CHAPTER IV. 



Precarious Condition of the Work. — M. Nyel's Character. — M. de La 
Salle brings the Teachers near his Residence. — They dine with him. — 
Trials. — School at Guise. — The Teachers live with M. de La Salle. — 
P^re Barry's Advice. — Rethel. — Duke de Mazarin. — Schools at 
Chateau-Porcien, St. Pierre, Laon. — M. de La Salle retires into 
Solitude. — Resigns his Canonry. — Refuses to give his Resignation in 
favor of his Brother. — The Abb^ Faubert. — The Venerable distributes 
his Patrimony to the Poor. — Famine of 1684. 

With all their success, the schools opened by 
M. Nyel were far from being such as their found- 
ers, and especially La Salle, desired. The teach- 
ers had but few regulations, and those were scarcely 
heeded. The lack of stability of character in M. 
Nyel was in proportion to the goodness of his in- 
tentions. Pere Garreau says of him and his 
work at this period: ''The schools were very 
badly conducted, owing to the constant absence of 
M. Nyel, Not only was order ignored, but the 
masters, thus far, were subject to no rules of dis- 
cipline. M. de La Salle had too large a share in 
their establishment not to be interested in their 
perfection. In order to repair, in part, the sad con- 
sequences of M. Nyel's constant absence, he deter- 
mined to change the teachers' home, and to bring 
it nearer his own residence. M. Nyel gladly con- 
sented to this proposition; he foresaw the benefit 
that would accrue to his teachers by the vigilance 



the Ven. J. S. De La Salle. §7 

of their protector; and, moreover, this would give 
him greater opportunities of gratifying his erratic 
disposition. The masters left the house of the pas- 
tor of St. Maurice, and took their lodgings near the 
residence of M. de La Salle. They found them- 
selves subject, in their new home, to regulations 
hitherto unknown to them. The hours for rising and 
for meals were determined. M. de La Salle indicated 
the time that should be employed in mental prayer. 
Each morning they assisted at the holy sacrifice of 
the Mass, and frequently communicated. In a word, 
these good masters found that, for the first time, 
they began to live a community life, and they were 
not slow in perceiving its advantages. But it was 
necessary to have a person of some authority to 
preserve the order thus established. This was M. 
NyeFs chief duty, but one which he proved utterly 
incompetent to realize. It is true that he could still 
be absent from time to time, at short intervals, but 
his itinerant disposition rendered the new regime 
irksome. On the other hand, M. de La Salle could 
not supply the deficiency caused by M. Nyel's re- 
peated absence ; thus, in spite of his zeal, the result 
obtained was meagre : even this threatened to perish. 
Yet the fruits of even the partial discipline that M. 
de La Salle succeeded in establishing, were such, 
that, when M. Nyel opened a third school in this 
house, its reputation drew to it a larger number 
of scholars than were to be found in the two 
others.*' 

Apart from the general relation he had thus 
established between himself and these humble 



58 The Life and Work of 

teachers, the Venerable had still no other thought 
than that of indirectly assisting them. ** I imag- 
ined/* he writes in his Memoirs, " that my relations 
with these masters required me simply to direct 
their external conduct, to provide for their wants, 
and to see that they fulfilled their duties faith- 
fully /* '^whereas, Divine Providence,*' says Ravelet, 
''designed this to be the exclusive occupation of 
his life, — that to which all the others were to be 
subordinate. His deep theological studies, so far 
from proving fruitless, were to enable him to save 
his future disciples from the dangerous and subtle 
errors into which cunning sectaries would strive to 
ensnare them.** 

At this period M. de La Salle took another step 
in the work to which, insensibly, a divine but 
unseen will was leading him. Gradually he found 
himself more and more attached to his dear school- 
masters. It is true, he saw they were somewhat 
uncouth, but he admired their good- will, and looked 
upon them as instruments employed to draw souls 
to Christ. It was necessary, therefore, to form 
them upon this divine exemplar, and he devoted all 
his spare moments to the task. His occupations, 
however, did not give him the leisure that such an 
undertaking required. The canonical office took a 
portion of his hours. He had his time of study, 
together with his family duties ; and thus he found 
that he could give only a furtive hour to the 
masters. He then bethought him that, instead of 
sending them their meals, he might bring the 
teachers to his own table. The expense would be 



The Ven. J. B, De La Salle. 59 

the same, and thus he might utilize the hours of 
meals to instruct them. The teachers would also, 
with the single exception of eating together, have 
all the freedom they had enjoyed. This project he 
realized, though not without opposition from his 
relatives and friends. The school-masters came, 
twice a day, to partake of the frugal meal offered 
by M. de La Salle ; one read aloud, and the Vener- 
able took occasion thus to instruct them in the 
duties of their position. 

While circumstances thus developed themselves, 
the city of Guise, situated near Rheims, manifested 
a great desire to establish free schools. Mile, de 
Guise had already founded three for poor girls, 
and asked P^re Barre to send some of his spiritual 
daughters to direct them. The city magistrates 
desired similar advantages for the boys ; and hear- 
ing of the schools of Rheims, they wrote to M. 
Nyel, asking him to come and establish such : a re- 
quest that he knew not how to refuse. In vain did 
La Salle tell him that such a course was im- 
practicable ; that an uncertain good should not be 
preferred to one that was already in existence, and 
the continuance of which depended, in part, upon 
his assiduity. He told him, moreover, that a work 
undertaken under such imprudent circumstances 
could not be blessed by God. All to no avail were 
M. de La Sailers protestations. M. Nyel left for his 
new mission in the holy-week of 168 1, relying upon 
the Venerable to replace him during his absence, 
which he said would be of short duration. 

M. de La Salle could not, under the circumstances, 



6o The Life and Work of 

bear to see the young masters without a director^ 
even for a few days ; he therefore took them under 
his protection. They arose at five, made mental 
prayer, and then assisted at the hoi)'' Mass. He 
required them, after leaving the church, to repair to 
his residence, instead of going to their own lodg- 
ings. They spent the entire day with him, apart 
from the hours which they taught in school. They 
ate in the same refectory, each one receiving his 
portion of food ; all the exercises were performed 
at the given hour till mght-prayers ; after prayer 
they returned to their own residence. 

This mode of life lasted eight days, at the end 
of which time M. Nyel returned from Guise, covered 
with confusion, not having succeeded to found a 
school. During this short interval, the Venerable 
de La Salle had noticed many irregularities in 
the life of his disciples, and he resolved to correct 
them. M. Nyel's erratic course caused great 
inconvenience. He admitted this to be the case, 
but did not appear able to remedy the failing. He 
was happy to see the progress that had been made 
in so short a time by his companions, and urged 
upon M. de La Salle the necessity of taking these 
good people entirely under his immediate super- 
vision, by removing them to his own residence, 
permanently. 

The Venerable de La Salle was in the greatest 
perplexity. The lease of the other house was 
nearly expired. Should he renew it, or should he 
remove the teachers to his own dwelling, to have 
them always under his control ? Such a deter- 



The Ven. y. B. De La Salle, 6i 

mination was a serious question. Not only would 
it change his mode of life, but it would introduce 
into his formerly quiet existence a new occupation, 
that would involve great labor and annoyance ; one 
that would provoke the criticism of his friends, and 
the opposition of his family. 

M. de La Salle, in this emergency, had recourse 
to prayer, and the advice of enlightened friends. 
He went to Paris, and consulted Pere Barre, who 
had spent fifteen years at Rouen, and who had 
made great efforts, not without success, to establish 
schools there. Pere Barr6 had also attempted to 
open schools for boys, but had failed. He had 
assembled a certain number of young people for the 
purpose ; but, through lack of preliminary discipline, 
and a rule with a sanction, they soon fell into 
various disorders, and finally abandoned their 
mission. La Salle explained the situation to this 
zealous priest, related what he had already done, 
and stated the success with which his efforts 
had been blessed. He then made known the 
difficulties of the position, his fears for the future, 
and the means by which he thought the work 
might best be saved. When P^re Barre had heard 
all, he did not hesitate a moment in giving his 
reply. He saw why he had not succeeded in a 
similar undertaking. La Salle was the man des- 
tined to realize the sublime mission. The very 
trials to which the servant of God had been 
subjected, were so many means employed by 
Providence to strengthen the souls of His laborers. 
P^re Barre omitted no argument to convince M. de 



62 The Life and Work of 

La Salle that his vocation was evident, his duty in 
the premises imperative. " God's greatest designs 
upon a soul," said he, '' are accomplished only amid 
the fiercest contradictions. Trials, interior as well 
as exterior, crucify our nature, but they strengthen 
the soul. As wine cannot be extracted from the 
grape, unless this be placed in the press, so the soul 
can produce no lasting good, unless it has been 
passed through the press of trials, temptations, and 
contradictions. The perfect Christian must be like 
the weather-vane on the church-steeple : it turns in 
every direction, but never leaves the cross upon 
which it has been fixed.*' ^ *' Take your teachers," 
added he, *' lodge them in your private residence, 
provide them with food and clothing: in a word, 
become their superior and their father.^f 

These counsels had their effects upon La Salle ; 
he left his adviser, fully determined as to the 
course he should pursue. On the twenty-fourth 
of June, 1681, feast of St. John the Baptist, his 
patron, he took the entire community into his own 
house. 

This action brought down upon him a storm of 
abuse from his relatives. It even estranged some 
of them. Two of his brothers left him. The 
younger one was placed as a boarder with the 
regular canons of Senlis ; the second went to live 
with his brother-in-law ; but Louis, the one next 
in age to his guardian, resolutely determined to 
remain with him. 

* ''Spiritual Maxims of P^re Barr^,'* p. 26. 
t F. Lucard, *' Vie de M. de La Salle," p. 29. 



The Ven. % B. De La Salle. 63 

About this time the magistrates of Rethel, 
learning the success which followed the establish- 
ments opened under the guidance of M. de La 
Salle, wrote to him, asking him for two or three of 
his teachers. Their petitions were strengthened 
by the influence of the Duke de Mazarin. M. Nyel 
was sent to settle the affair. Everything resulted 
to the fullest satisfaction of the zealous negotiator ; 
the clergy and the poor families blessed M. Nyel 
and his work ; charitable persons were anxious to 
provide all that was necessary for the new teachers. 
The Duke de Mazarin showed great generosity 
in this circumstance. ** He did not limit himself 
to procuring temporal benefits for his dependents ; 
he also sought to afford them the advantages of 
good and salutary instruction.**^ The duke, by 
his liberality, secured the opening of the schools, 
which, a short time previously, had failed at Guise. 
He gave the house and the furniture. Mile, de 
Lorraine, Duchess of Guise, guaranteed the annual 
payment of a considerable sum, to defray the 
expenses of the two teachers. As this was not 
sufficient to cover the outlay, these teachers were 
authorized to receive half-boarders.f 

Several magistrates, and parties distinguished for 
their zeal, solicited masters formed by La Salle. 
The authorities of Chateau-Porcien, and M. Guiart, 
pastor of St. Pierre-le-Vieux, at Laon, were first 
supplied. M. Nyel was sent to open these 
schools. Wherever he went, he was enthusi- 
astic in his praises of the virtue of his noble 

* F. Lucard, " Vie du V. de La Salle," p. 31. t Ibid., p. 31. 



64 The Life and Work of 

director. During these voyages he induced several 
young men to join in the good work ; these he sent 
to be formed at Rheims. Without their assistance, 
La Salle would have been unable to increase his 
establishments so rapidly. 

When M. Nyel had seen the condition of the 
schools in Laon, he resolved to remain several 
months in that city. These schools were then 
directed by parish chanters, who paid very little 
attention to them. "■ It was heart-rending to see 
the ignorance and depravity in which these chil- 
dren lived." ^ M. Nyel and companions were 
warmly welcomed by M. Guiart. These instructors 
were already known to him, through M. de 
La Salle, with whom he had lived on the most 
intimate terms, and whom he had known through 
M. Roland, their common friend. At his request, 
Mgr. d' Estrees took this school under his special 
protection. The rapid progress made by the 
numerous scholars was the subject of public com- 
ment and congratulation. The change effected in 
the morals of the children was not less noticeable ; 
and on the nineteenth of November, 1683, the 
municipal council declared that M. Nyel had accom- 
plished much good, and granted to the new teachers 
an annual pension. The Premontres de Saint 
Martin, a religious community, agreed to furnish 
them with dinner. 

M. NyeFs prolonged absence, and the rapid 
increase of the work, had greatly augmented the 
Abbe de La Salle's responsibilities. He could no 

* Arch, du Regime — Les Fr^res de Laon, MS. 1728. 



The Ven. J, B, De La Salle. 65 

longer look upon the direction of the schools, and 
the formation of the masters, as an accessory labor 
to which it would suffice to devote his leisure 
hours. The future of their schools was in his 
hands. " I feared,'' said he, later, '' that I had taken 
too great a share in these good men's labors ; the 
solicitude which their direction demanded, had 
become incompatible with my duties as a canon." 

What will the generous and faithful disciple of 
Pere Barre and Abbe Roland do under the circum- 
stances? On the one hand, worldly preferments 
are within his reach. Despite the course he has 
thus far pursued, to acknowledge that he has been 
mistaken, and to ask his friends once more to em- 
brace him, would have been sufficient. All would 
have been forgiven. But this is not his thought. 
On the contrary, he seriously asks himself whether 
he will exchange the canon's stall for the teacher's 
stool. An all-important question ; a most decisive 
moment! Upon it depend the creation of a new 
religious order, and the vocations of thousands who 
are to be known as Brothers of the Christian 
Schools. *^ Faithful," says F. Lucard, ** to a practice 
that he will preserve till death, the Venerable de 
La Salle seeks in prayer and meditation the solution 
of his difficulties." For this purpose, he rented a 
lonely garden, near the Augustinians. There, like 
the son of Monica, he listened to the voice of God. 
He took up the book of experience, in which so 
many things had already been written for him ; he 
pondered over its lessons ; in it he heard the will of 
God, and he followed its behests." '* In the choice I 



66 The Life and Work of 

am about to make/' he writes, " what should deter- 
mine my resolution ? Certainly, the greater glory 
of God, the service of the Church, m)^ perfection, 
and the salvation of souls. But if I consult these 
motives, so befitting a priest of the Lord, I must 
determine to renounce my canonry, to give myself 
entirely to the care of the schools, and to form 
good teachers/' ^ '' Moreover," adds a manuscript, 
now in the archives of the mother-house in Paris, 
"■ God, who conducts all things wisely and gently, 
who forces not the inclinations of men, wishes me to 
devote myself entirely to the care of these schools; 
He directs me toward this end, in an imperceptible 
though rapid manner, so that one connection after 
another has attached me to a vocation I had not 
foreseen." 

Upon his return from this retreat, M. Nyel and 
companions found the Venerable de La Salle ready 
to make any sacrifice for the welfare of their noble 
undertaking. 

Notwithstanding his assurances that their future 
was in his hands, that he would see to their wants, 
these poor masters, at times, gave way to thoughts 
of despondency. Their task was a thankless one, in 
many respects. Their best days were spent in the 
service of an ungrateful class : what was to become 
of them, when worn-out nature would be obliged to 
seek rest ? They addressed M. de La Salle in the 
following terms : *' If we attain an advanced age, if 
sickness or infirmity overtake us, who will supply 
our wants ? Who will defray our expenses? What 

* P^re Blain, ** Vie de J. B. de La Salle." 



The Ven, y. B. De La Salle. 67 

Aand will pour the consolations of religion and of 
friendship into our souls ? '' * The pious canon en- 
deavored to allay their fears, by urging them to 
rely upon Providence. He was promptly answered : 
** You who are rich and honored, may look forward 
with confidence ; but what are we poor teachers 
to expect? We will certainly die isolated and 
abandoned I ** f 

Undismayed by such complaints, the servant of 
God believed that herein he received another indi- 
cation of the will of heaven. He wrote to R. P^re 
Barre, asking his advice. " Any other support 
than Providence,** replied this austere rehgious, 
*' is unsuited to the Christian schools.*' This was 
equivalent to saying: ^' Renounce all your posses- 
sions ; give up your canonical dignity ; forego all 
idea of promotion in the Church ; sacrifice the pleas- 
ures of wealth ; become voluntarily poor. Your ex- 
ample will have greater effect upon your disciples 
than the most eloquent and pathetic discourses.** M. 
de La Salle was nothing daunted at the great sacri- 
fice that was proposed. He hastened to Paris, 
hoping to meet there Mgr. Le Tellier. He arrived 
just after the departure of this prelate for his archi- 
episcopal city. He then consulted R. Pere Barre 
and M. de La Barmondi^re, pastor of St. Sulpice. 
Both advised him to carry out his intentions. 
Several of his friends, his relatives, the members 
of the chapter, even his superiors, endeavored to 
dissuade him from such a step, but in vain. His 
determination was fixed ; a secret impulse of grace 

* F. Lucard, ** Vie du V. de La Salle," p. 34. t Ibid. 



'68 The Life and Work of 

gave him new strength to meet and reject every 
effort to withdraw him from the offering that w^as 
demanded. 

As soon as he had reached Rheims he hastened 
to the archiepiscopal residence, and tendered his 
resignation. M. Le Tellier refused his consent, but 
M. de La Salle, not in the least discouraged, con- 
sulted his advisers anew. He particularly invoked 
the assistance of M. Philbert, canon and professor 
of theology, who had great influence with the arch- 
bishop. After listening attentively to his reasons, 
all admitted that he was an instrument in the hands 
of God for the accomplishment of a much-needed 
work, and they unanimously declared it to be his 
duty to follow the impulse of grace. Finally con- 
vinced, the archbishop agreed to receive his resig- 
nation, but, in common with many friends, especially 
M. de La Salle's relatives, his Grace expressed the 
hope that the Venerable would resign in favor of 
his younger brother. 

It was evident that those who made such a re 
quest but partially knew the Abbe de La Salle. He 
had labored, with all the zeal and earnestness of 
the most zealous suitor, that he might be allowed 
to divest himself of an honor which he found 
incompatible with the duties to which he felt him- 
self irresistibly called. Nothing but the greatest 
indifference to all purely human considerations 
could have induced such a resolution. He was to 
change the company of learned and respected 
canons for that of a body of poor and partially 
illiterate men. After determining upon so great a 



The Ven, J. B. De La Salle. 69 

sacrifice, it would not be logical in so heroic a 
character to be found stooping to family consider- 
ations, in which nature would have the first place, 
duty the second. None could have shown more 
love for his relatives than the Venerable had mani- 
fested, particularly since the death of his parents. 
To watch over them more carefully, he had given 
up his studies at St. Sulpice, and pursued them as 
best he could, amid the distractions of household 
duties. But in all this, he felt that the will of God was 
manifest. He did so as a Christian brother ; as the 
administrator of an important stewardship. In all 
things he looked to the end he had in view ; and in 
consequence, when there was question of a successor 
to his canonry, he first consulted God, and next 
his neighbor. While he admitted that his brother 
had many excellent qualities, he claimed that 
there were others much more deserving of the 
position ; and, with him, merit had the first claim 
to the vacancy. His desire was to be worthy 
of the vocation to which he was now called, and 
he was aware that " he who loves father or mother, 
brother or sister,*' more than God, is unworthy 
of Him ; hence, instead of giving his resignation 
in favor of Louis de La Salle, who had remained 
so faithful to him in the time of persecution, he 
caused it to revert to the Abbe Faubert, who was 
well known, and highly esteemed for his ability as 
a preacher, and his zeal for the salvation of souls. 

Louis de La Salle, whose nobility of character 
has already shown itself, did not take offence at the 
preference given to a comparative stranger. He 



70 The Life and Work of 

approved the motives which directed his brother's 
selection, and was shortly afterward rewarded for 
his disinterested feelings. The archbishop availed 
himself of the first vacancy caused by the death of 
the incumbent, to prefer Louis to a canonry, and, 
in doing so, his Grace playfully remarked that he 
gave him the position, in order to repair M. de La 
Salle's folly in giving his benefice to another than 
his brother. 

To judge by the Abbe de La Salle's acts, he was 
the only party who had been benefited by the ex- 
change ; for, no sooner had he witnessed the installa- 
tion of his successor, than he assembled his disciples, 
whom he could now call his children, and with them 
chanted a Te Deum, in thanksgiving for this further 
preliminary step toward the establishment of the 
Brothers of the Christian Schools. 

But still another sacrifice is required from this 
generous heart. He had given up the honors of 
a former position, he had selected an ungrateful task 
as his lifework, and still there was a great stream 
to cross. He had rendered himself humble with 
the little ; it yet remained for him to become poor 
with the indigent. He was called to be the apostle 
of youth, and, as an apostle, he was asked by a con- 
science, to which he had never refused to listen, to 
sell all that he possessed, to give the price thereof 
to the poor, and then, having left all things, to 
follow Christ, who had not a stone whereon to lay 
His divine head. M. de La Salle had made too 
many sacrifices, had merited too many graces of 
strength and of courage, not to be equal to this 



The Ven. J. B. De La Salle. 71 

draught of the chalice which he was to drink to the 
dregs. 

Moreover, the circumstances of his newly 
accepted position demanded this offering. At this 
time we find him writing to a friend : " My mouth 
is closed, I have no right to speak the language of 
perfection to my teachers ; nor can I tell them of 
poverty, while I am possessed of a rich patrimony, 
which precludes the possibility of want. How can 
I speak to them of abandonment to Providence, 
while I am provided against indigence?'' The 
holy servant of God awaited but the favorable 
moment to divest himself of the last links which 
attached him to the world. Rarely have well- 
disposed persons to wait long to find objects upon 
which to lavish their alms. A special and pressing 
occasion presented itself, in which La Salle could 
dispense his wealth to advantage. 

The year 1684 may justly be termed ^' the sad 
year,'' in the history of France. Several seasons 
of insufficient crops had rendered provisions as 
scarce as they were dear. From all the surround- 
ing villages, hundreds of poor persons crowded 
into the cities, and Rheims had the appearance of 
a vast pauper-house. The greater number of the 
middle and lower classes were reduced to beg- 
gary, as all work had ceased. Even many rich 
persons were brought to the utmost state of misery. 
Religious communities, to whom want had hitherto 
been unknown, were forced to part with their most 
costly furniture, in exchange for bread. So afflict- 
ing a year was one in which the Abb6 de La Salle 



72 The Life and Work of 

could part with his goods, without going far to 
find ready receivers. But, even here, an idea quite 
natural under the circumstances, must have struck 
him. Was it prudent to become poor, when he had 
a number of persons dependent upon him for the 
necessaries of life ? The question was one difficult 
to answer. Still Pere Barre's words resounded in 
his soul : '' No other reliance than Providence is 
suited to the Christian Schools." Moreover, he 
believed with the apostle, that, " being poor, he 
would possess all things," since he would thus pur- 
chase the blessing of God, called down upon him 
by the prayers of those he would assist. He had 
long ago broken all ties of kinship. He felt him- 
self now as a member of the large family of the poor 
and indigent. What he called his was theirs. To 
them it belonged, and among them he resolved to 
distribute it. 

So he divided his patrimony into four parts : the 
first purchased food for his poor scholars, and assist- 
ed the Sisters of the Child Jesus ; the second was 
given to the indigent, who were first taught cate- 
chism for a few moments each day, when they came 
to receive their pittance ; the third part was given 
to females in distress, who were likewise instructed ; 
and the fourth was distributed among the poor who 
were ashamed to make known their necessities. 
"The good priest did all in his power," says Pere 
Barr6, "• to find these deserving poor, without being 
discovered by them." " Those among his adver- 
saries," continued F. Lucard, *' who had been most 
bitter in their assaults against his character, were 



The Ven, y. B. De La Salle. 73 

the chief subjects of his liberalities.'* His disciples, 
affrighted at the number and extent of his charities, 
began to fear for their own future. Like the 
Israelites of old, they were in constant dread lest 
they should perish, never thinking of the manifesta- 
tions already made by Providence in their favor. 
But, seeing their father reduced to the same poverty 
as themselves, these timorous teachers became more 
confident; the Venerable's instructions fell upon 
hearts that had been moved by the power of example 
to follow their master in all things. At this time he 
was thirty-three years old. 

A distinguished writer has well said that no 
monastic institution has ever failed which had, for 
its corner-stone, faith ; for its walls, poverty ; and 
for its roof, modesty. These were the three virtues 
on which the Abbe de La Salle had centred his 
hopes. They were, therefore, built upon the strong 
foundation against which the winds and the waters 
strike without eflfect. 



BOOK 11. 

THE VOCATION. 



CHAPTER I. 

Several Collegians enter the Society. — Removal to Rue Neuve. — 
Incompetent Teachers requested to withdraw. — Retreat with twelve 
Brothers. — They make triennial Vows. — The religious Habit. — M. de 
La Salle establishes a Training-school. — Duke de Mazarin. — M. Nyel 
retires to Rouen. — General Assembly of the Brothers in 1686. — The 
Venerable resigns the Generalship. — Illness of several Brothers. — 
Death of FF. Nicolas, Jean Paris, and Maurice. — M. de La Salle 
receives Penitents, and is visited by distinguished Ecclesiastics. 

The last tie has been snapped. The Venerable de 
La Salle has proved himself equal to the demands 
imposed upon his generosity. His greatness of 
soul begins to stand out in bold relief. But, as we 
advance, we will get still better glimpses of it. He 
is not a man of mere impulses ; he is consistent in 
all he does. 

Having ceased to be rich, he believed himself en- 
titled to no better treatment than the poor. He 
placed himself among the mendicants, and begged 
the morsel which was to preserve so precious a 
life: this he did with all the humility his rare 
virtue could command. ** On one occasion,'* relates 
P^re Blain, **he had gone from house to house, 
thus imploring the assistance that he had lately 



76 The Life and Work of 

so cheerfully given; many a rebuff, and no food^ 
had been his fortune, when a good lady offered 
him a slice of bread. This he ate kneeling, 
and with an expression of joy upon his counte^ 
nance, which none but those who knew of his 
virtue could understand.'* Providence seemed 
only to await this accomplishment of the final sacri- 
fice, before manifesting His pleasure in the work 
to which M. de La Salle had unreservedly devoted 
himself. The teachers, who had thus far entered 
the new society, were of an inferior class. Some of 
them, discouraged at the perfection to which the 
Venerable wished them to attain in their profession^ 
withdrew, leaving him with very poor material for 
the propagation of the schools. But this was of 
short duration ; for several young men, who had 
already made part of their collegiate studies, struck 
by the example of the Canon of Rheims, and in- 
wardly impelled to imitate his noble conduct, pre- 
sented themselves to join the new army of the 
Lord.*^ The number soon became so considerable, 
that La Salle was obliged to seek for more spacious 
accommodations. He rented a large house in Rue 
Neuve, whither his numerous family retired. Al- 
ready that family perceived that God does not allow 
Himself to be outdone in generosity. 

M. de La Salle, possessing nothing, had still many 
friends ; if what the world called his folly had lost 
him some admirers, his zeal and the success of his 
work had brought many others to his assistance. 
Thus several ecclesiastics, touched by the devoted- 

"" * Maillefer—MS. Vie. 



The Ven. J, B. De La Salle. 'jj 

ness of their feUovv-priosts, collected a considerable 
sum, with which he was enabled to purchase his 
new residence. A flourishing school was opened 
there, and the cradle of the work was the property 
of the infant society. It was in 1700 that the deeds 
were given to M. de La Salle. 

Some of M. Nyel's first companions, whose good- 
will was greater than their tact, were requested to 
withdraw from the new institute ; the others were 
subjected to such a course as was most likely to 
cultivate their talents. M. de La Salle, now fully 
identified with his labor, desired to be united with 
his adopted family by closer ties. His was one of 
those characters that cannot make sacrifices by 
halves. In 1684, on the feast of the Ascension, he 
assembled twelve of his principal disciples ; he 
publicly announced that henceforth he would be 
one of them ; their trials would be his ; their food 
his nourishment, and their successes his sole earthly 
reward. Together they made a ten days* retreat, 
during which the disciples could not help admiring 
the heroic efforts their father made to subject him- 
self entirely to their simple method of living. At 
the close of the exercises, several of the most zeal- 
ous wished to unite themselves to the new society, 
by perpetual vows. The prudent director did not 
find them sufficiently prepared for so solemn an act ; 
still, he permitted twelve of the most ancient among 
them to take the vows of obedience and stability 
for three years. They were to renew these obliga- 
tions each Trinity Sunday. 



78 The Life and Work of 

We need not be astonished that the Venerable's 
disciples should have been so pressing in their de- 
mands to join their fortunes with his. The examples 
he daily furnished, impelled them to present this 
petition. While they had something to suffer, in 
the humble nature of their employment, they saw 
their leader condemning himself to the most extra- 
ordinary and difficult mortifications. His body 
was enveloped in a thick hair-shirt, and a pointed 
girdle about his waist left his senses no repose. To 
these penances he added the severest disciplines, 
which he inflicted upon himself with leather 
thongs, tipped with iron. The marks of the blood 
which spurted from his body were visible upon the 
walls of his room ; and by this means it was that 
the holy severities which he inflicted upon himself 
became known. Pere Lacordaire has said that, when 
Frenchmen become monks, they become such ** up 
to the neck.** In this pithy sentence, he has ex- 
pressed the spirit that actuated the Venerable de La 
Salle and his fervent disciples at this time. 

Before separating, after the termination of the 
retreat, certain general measures of order and dis- 
cipline were adopted. Among others, a costume 
was determined upon. The color and the form 
were left to the selection of the holy Founder. It 
was then decreed that the habit should be of coarse 
black cloth, closed in front with hooks and eyes ; 
a white rabata, or collar, an ecclesiastical hat, with 
wide border, somewhat in the style of the old Con- 
tinental hat of colonial days, and a mantle similar to 



The Ven. J. B. De La Salle. 79 

that then worn in Champagne, completed the pre- 
scribed outfit.* 

The wisdom of such a measure is questioned only 
by the superficial, as it is only the uneducated 
and the rabble who find fault with the dress. It 
is in keeping with the unchanging spirit of the 
Church under whose sanction religious orders are 
established, that their characteristic dress remain 
unchanged. It is only in the world, where men pay 
deference to the tyrannical caprices of fashion, that 
the style of the hour is consulted. But religious 
men are not of the world. Their thoughts are 
above the cut of their coat. It suffices that their 
dress be in keeping with their profession. In every 
office there are certain external marks by which 
its incumbent is distinguished. In the Church, also, 
each position has its garb of dignity, its mantle, its 
gown, to indicate the rank its occupant may claim. 
As the veil worn by Sarah denoted that she was 
a lawfully espoused wife, so the religious dress 
indicates that the wearer has espoused a single 
cause; that he is to reserve himself exclusively for 
that cause, and that his energies are to bear all in 
one direction. The pious founder gave his fol- 
lowers a costume, not simply as teachers, but still 
more as religious. When the judge has left his 
official chair, he no longer wears his gown and wig, 
for he ceases, temporarily, to be a magistrate ; but 
religious, wherever they go, in whatever company 
they find themselves, are ever consecrated to God, 
and must make open profession of their adherence 

* This is still the dress of the Brothers of the Christi?D Schools. 



8o The Life and Work of 

to fixed principles. Countries or circumstances 
may require a temporary deviation from this rule, 
but the really courageous disciple will never, when 
possible, flinch from appearing in the garb of his 
religious profession. 

The Venerable de La Salle was the first to clothe 
himself in the new habit. This costume, which is 
now respected throughout the world, was at first 
the cause of some insult and humiliation, but it 
gradually grew in favor, till to-day it is recognized 
as the symbol of true devotedness to the best 
interests of youth. It makes all appear equal, and 
does away with a thousand whims, fancies, and 
inconveniences. When the first disciples were 
insulted, so far from repining, they rejoiced ** that 
they were accounted worthy to suffer reproach for 
the name of Jesus.'' The saintly Founder remarks 
on this subject : ** Before the Brothers had taken 
the holy habit, they were considered as so many 
men working for pay ; several who presented 
themselves even asked what wages they were to 
receive, like so many domestics. Since vesting them 
with the religious costume, no one has asked for pay, 
and each one enters with the intention of persevering 
until death ; and those who are received deem 
themselves most happy. From that time seculars 
looked upon the teachers as men separated from 
the world. Their new costume produced the 
happiest results in every respect. 

The Venerable likewise determined the name by 
which his sons were to be known. It is as touching 
as instructive. They are to be called the Brothers 



The Ven, f. B. De La Salle. 8t 

of the Christian Schools. Brothers, — men of one 
family in God. Brothers, — all laboring for the 
interests of God, their Father, and of the Church, 
their mother. Brothers of the Christian Schools, — 
men devoted to the work of evangelizing and of 
instructing the masses ; men, who for two centuries, 
have been earnestly striving to do that which the late 
Holy Father, Pius IX, so urgently recommended, 
namely, ''to make education more Christian." 
'' They,** says the Venerable de La Salle, ** shall 
always address one another as our dear Brother.** 
All family titles are to be unknown. If distinction 
is attained, it must be as Brothers that it will be 
acquired.*^ Shortly after the Venerable de La Salle 
had given this first impetus and form to his 
community, he proved, in a striking manner, the 
reality of his intention to become one in all things 
with his disciples. The Brother who taught the 
school of St. Jacques fell sick. The holy Founder 
immediately took his place. Then it was that 
Rheims beheld the former canon and doctor in 
theology leading little children to Mass, teaching 
them the first elements of reading and writing, 

* A simple country lad enters the society. He has little means^ but 
great talent. During twenty years he labors in its ranks, and for forty 
more, he directs its destiny. See that immense throng of people around 
the doors, surging up the aisles of St. Sulpice ; watch those ten 
thousand children, who march in line with saddened countenance and 
measured step. What does all this mean ? The world is paying its 
last respects to a man whose real name is unknown to one in a 
thousand of those who follow his remains. They weep the loss of a 
Brother of the Christian Schools, whose panegyric is written by Pius 
IX, and in whose honor France strikes a medal : his name is Brother 
Philippe. 

Had the reader entered one of the poorest districts of Paris, on the 
sixth of February, 1856, he might have noticed a general gloom among 



§2 The Life and Work of 

performing all the functions of the primary in- 
structor. Even those who had most persecuted 
him could not help expressing their admiration at 
this conduct. Needless to say that his modest 
disciples were proud of their superior. In seeing 
him taking part in their simple functions, they felt, 
even humanly speaking, that their work was not to 
be despised. On his return from class, they flocked 
around him, asking him if he found teaching painful, 
or if the children were difficult to manage. He 
was cheerful and happy, and simply remarked : 
" Let us imitate St. Paul ; let us make ourselves all 
to all, and we will find ourselves in our classes as a 
father in his family.**^ 

The excellent results obtained by the Venerable 
de La Salle's children had already attracted public 
attention, and several parties desired their services. 
He told those who spoke to him on the subject, that 
he could not allow his disciples to live apart, as was 
requested, but he offered to establish a training, 
or normal school for village teachers, if the means 
were provided him. This school was accordingly 
opened at Rheims. Many of the clergy sent intelli- 

the inhabitants. The merry song of the thrifty housewife is hushed. 
Little children look up into their mothers' faces, and strive to read the 
meaning of the strange sadness therein pictured. Old men shake their 
heads, and say, "We shall never see her like again." Who is this, 
whose name is so respected — whose influence has penetrated so deeply 
into those simple hearts ? A woman who could scold princes, and 
command soldiers ; who could stop the bloody carnage of the city mob, 
and obtain the pardon of thoughtless revolutionists ; a woman who had 
the purse of the rich at her command, yet whose family ties were 
unknown. She was princess of her district, still her only title was that 
she was a daughter of St. Vincent, known as Sister Rosalie. This 
tells the secret magic of the religious dress — the charm of the titles, 
Brother, Sister. 
* F. Lucard, "Vie," 2d ed., p. 74. 



The Ven, J, B, De La Salle. ^3 

gent young men to be formed, and, after a certain 
length of time, which depended on their aptitude 
and application, they were sent to their various 
parishes, where, in their capacity as primary teachers, 
they did great good. Thus the holy Founder was 
widening the sphere of his influence far beyond his 
immediate action. 

At the same time that this training-school was es- 
tablished, the Venerable de La Salle opened what he 
called the small, or preparatory, novitiate. '' In this 
school,*' says the Venerable, '' we train intelligent 
children, who are piously inclined, and who pro- 
pose afterward to enter our society ; they are ad- 
mited at the age of fourteen, and are formed to 
practise mental prayer, and other exercises of 
piety. They are also taught the catechism, and 
they learn to read and write perfectly. These 
scholars have a dormitory, a chapel, a refector}^, 
and recreation grounds, apart. Even their exer- 
cises are different from those of the Brothers, and 
are proportioned to their strength of mind, and to 
the duties the)^ are afterward destined to fulfil.'* 
The Venerable de La Salle devoted great attention 
to these boys : there were fourteen in this prepara- 
tory novitiate the first year. 

The Due de Mazarin, who had heard much of 
La Salle's work, was very desirous to form 
his acquaintance. For this purpose, he came to 
Rheims, and paid him visits. The duke's know- 
edge of human nature soon made him admire 
the charming simplicity, the brilliancy of talent, 
and the prudence and sweetness which were such 



84 The Life and Work of 

characteristic traits in his new friend. The rela- 
tions thus estabHshed between these two men were 
not to terminate in sterile formalities and mutual 
courtesies. Cardinal Mazarin, after having closed 
a brilliant but agitated career by the treaty of 
the Pyrenees, instructed his nephew, the Due de 
Mazarin, to found several works that would be use- 
ful to religion and to society. Though twenty-five 
years had elapsed since the death of the cardinal- 
minister of state, during which time the good duke 
had endeavored to carry out his instructions as to 
pious foundations, there still remained something to 
be done. The wants of youth had not been suffi- 
ciently thought of. Meeting such a man as La 
Salle was an invitation to the duke to enter his 
name on a new list as benefactor. The latter 
advised him to found a school, similar to that of 
Rheims, in which he might train teachers for the 
many cities and villages in his vast domains. 

On the twenty-second of September, 1685, the 
contract was drawn up, by which the duke agreed 
to furnish the means, and La Salle bound himself 
to direct the school. In this paper we find, among 
other items, "that the said duke has established 
a community of young men in the city of Mazarin, 
that he mav draw from this institution, as from a 
nursery, a sufficient number of teachers to instruct 
the youth of the Duchy of Mazarin, and also other 
districts belonging to him ; that this school shall be 
directed by two competent teachers, appointed by 
M. de La Salle." 

The creation of this school had taken place on the 



; The Ven. % B, De La Salle. 85 

twentieth of April, 1685. The duke had established, 
in perpetuity, seventeen purses, to be given to the 
most intelligent young men of the Brothers* school 
in Rethel. These students were to be prepared to 
act as teachers. They were to learn to read and 
write perfectly, and also to sing, ** that they might 
afterward instruct the youth of the lands, parishes, 
boroughs, and villages, in the said duchy of 
Mazarin/' 

It is characteristic of human intelligence that any 
attempt at going beyond what has already been 
done is sure to attract the criticism, if not the ridi- 
cule, of the world. The more this movement is 
directed to the moral amelioration of the race, the 
more certainly will abuse and vituperation follow. 
It seems as though it were a crime for any one to 
think or to see beyond the range within which 
previous ages have limited progress. Thus the 
Abbe de La Salle found that his intention of estab- 
lishing a training-school, being something new, met 
with numerous opponents. Certain persons, not 
wiser than their generation, apprehensive of the re- 
sults of the establishment of an institution which was 
without precedent, opposed the undertaking, and 
united their strength to stifle the attempt in its 
cradle. They influenced the archbishop and his 
vicar-general, and the contract entered into between 
the Duke de Mazarin and M. de La Salle was 
annulled. Such obstacles were not of a character to 
dismay either the Founder of the Christian Schools 
01 his noble patron. Unable to obtain the appro- 
bation of the Archbishop of Rheims, they turned 



86 The Life and Work of 

their attention elsewhere, and determined to found 
the school in the Marquisate of Montcornet, which 
was a part of the ducal domains which depended 
for spiritual ministration upon the Bishop of Laon, 
whose sympathies were in favor of the work. 

Having cancelled the first agreement, the con- 
tracting parties prepared a second, the same day 
(twenty-second of September, 1685), in presence of 
M. Chopplet, notary-public. The stipulations were 
materially the same as in the former contract, but 
the number of teachers to be trained at a time was 
reduced to three. The Bishop of Laon was to be 
consulted in the choice of the young men to be 
educated. Besides the annual stipend for the train- 
ing-masters, the duke was to furnish a convenient 
house, and all necessary furniture for the accom- 
modation of six persons. Moreover, M. de La Salle 
solicited letters-patent for his establishment at 
Rheims, " that he might perpetuate the training- 
school.** 

In all these successes M. Nyel took no little 
pride. It made him young for the moment to see 
that, through the blessing attached to his labors, 
and the direction given them by M. de La Salle, 
so much good had been accomplished. But, 
with M. Nyel, there was no such thing as having a 
lasting dwelling. No sooner did he organize, or 
rather inaugurate, an undertaking, than his propen- 
sities hastened him to pastures new. He longed 
for the liberty of other days, and '' did not feel," 
says Ravelet, "- that he was called to join the new 
.community \' for this had so changed since the 



the Ven, y. B. De La Satle. 87 

incumbency of M. de La Salle, that the former 
head was but a simple laborer in the field. " He 
was likewise anxious/* says F. Lucard, "to give 
the teachers he had left in Rouen the benefit of the 
experience he had acquired from the Venerable de 
La Salle/* 

*' My mission/* he said, **is accomplished in 
Champagne. Nothing now keeps me.'* He was 
then at Laon, and likewise had the supervision of 
the school at Guise. He had often pressed La 
Salle to take control of the schools, but the latter 
refused. M. Nyel knew the character of his 
protector too well, and determined to impose, in 
some sense, upon his good-nature. ** He knew that, 
if he left,** continues M. Ravelet, " M. de La Salle 
would act as he had always done : he would assume 
the increased responsibility.** It was in some 
manner necessary that M. Nyel should withdraw 
fi^om the new institute. It had taken too great an 
extension, and might, by his imprudent zeal, have 
been constrained to assume responsibilities which 
its holy Founder could not control. 

Upon his return to Rouen, M. Nyel found his 
friend Madame de Maillefer. The touching narra- 
tive that he gave of the good accomplished by M. 
de La Salle and his companions, filled her heart 
with inexpressible joy. M. Nyel retired to the 
general hospital on the twenty-sixth of October, 
1685, ^'^d received the title of *' Superintendent of 
the city free schools,'* a title created for him, and 
which he alone ever bore. On the twenty -third of 
September, 1678, he had given a considerable sum 



8^ the Life and Work of 

to the poor, and to this he added another donation, 
on condition that after his death they would pray for the 
repose of his soul. He found his former colleagues 
sadly degenerated from their first fervor, and their 
schools very badly directed. Some biographers of 
the Venerable de La Salle think that it was M. 
Nyel's intention to unite these schools with those 
directed by the holy Founder, but, if such were his 
views, he did not live to realize them. Death 
brought him rest on the thirty-first of May, 1687, 
and, in his person, a useful though varied existence, 
one to which society is greatly indebted, had passed 
away. By none was his loss more seriously 
regretted than by the Venerable de La Salle. 

The Venerable found that M. NyeFs departure 
from Laon had placed him in a ver}'- difficult 
position. The pastor, with whom he was closely 
united by ties of friendship, hastened to Rheims, 
and made the holy Founder understand that he could 
not allow such flourishing schools to disappear. 
Without his immediate attention the masters would 
become discouraged, and the children would be left 
without instruction. M. de La Salle could not re- 
sist such an appeal. To the direction of the schools 
of Rheims he added those of the neighboring cities. 
Thus he formed a congregation already spreading, 
and depending upon him for preservation. 

Upon hearing of M. Nyel's death, the Venerable 
de La Salle celebrated a solemn service, in the 
chapel of the Sisters of the Child Jesus, for his 
eternal repose. Many of his disciples were 
present, and prayers were said in the various 



The Ven. J. B. De La Salle. 89 

communities of Brothers, for the repose of this 
well-meaning and zealous pioneer. 

So long as as M. Nyel lived, the Venerable de La 
Salle's humility might claim that he was but a 
secondary instrument. Now that the whole burden 
had directly fallen upon him, his modesty shrank 
from the honor. He convoked a general assembly 
of his disciples for the ninth of June, 1686. Herein 
he appealed, with all the eloquence that could have 
inspired the most ambitious, and his request was, 
that he might resign a responsibility he had never 
sought, and from which he wished to be freed. Ac- 
customed to obey his simplest wishes, these good 
teachers were not prepared to resist so powerful 
and touching an appeal. To please their father, 
they consented to deprive themselves of the direc- 
tion of their surest guide ; but Providence did not 
require the sacrifice to be of long duration. 

Frere Henri Lheureux was elected superior. 
This good young man had simply consented, in 
deference to the Venerable de La Salle, who had 
given many reasons suggestive of the absolute need 
of his resignation. He had assured them that the 
number of houses, as well as the increased respon- 
ibility he had taken upon himself, in accepting their 
spiritual direction, was more than sufficient to oc- 
cupy his time and attention. For a long while he 
had refused his disciples the happiness of having 
him for their confessor. These reasons, added to 
others, which the humility of M. de La Salle had 
mentioned, were the prevailing arguments in the 
victory which he had gained. It is true, as P^re 



90 The Life and Work of 

Blain says, '^ that the disciples might have answered 
that he, being the shepherd, was bound to lead his 
sheep ; that, having promised to share their trials 
and bear their crosses, he should not seek to evade 
the largest portion/' In his position as inferior, the 
Venerable was foremost in all acts of self-denial and 
humiliation. *' One day while the brothers were in 
recreation, some one told the superior that there 
was a part of the house in a very filthy condition, 
and that some one should be sent to put it in order. 
The Venerable de La Salle at once threw himself 
upon his knees, begging to be allowed the privilege 
of performing this act of humility. The Brothers 
were pained at such marks of abnegation, and the 
superior had sufficient presence of mind not to per- 
mit the holy servant of God to perform this act. He 
answered that this was not in keeping with M. de 
La Salle's dignity. The latter understood quite the 
contrary, and hastened to do the work for which 
he believed himself appointed. He was followed 
by the superior, who refused to allow him to pro- 
ceed. Frfere Lheureux even reproached the Vener- 
able, in presence of the Brothers, saying that he had 
acted contrary to instructions. Far from excusing 
himself, the Venerable once more cast himself upon 
his knees, publicly acknowledging a fault of which 
he had not been guilty, and humbly begged to be 
punished as a refractory subject.*'"*^ 

A simple circumstance ended this abnormal 
condition of affairs, and rescinded the effect of a 
vote that had been innocently imposed upon the 

* P^re Garreau, S. J. 



The Ven, J. B. De La Salle. 91 

good Brothers, and which none regretted more 
than the newly-elected superior. He felt the im- 
propriety of placing so shining a light under a 
bushel, and, with the rest of the community, urged 
that the Venerable should resume his duty as 
superior. As M. de La Salle had engaged his 
subjects to preserve silence upon the result of the 
election, their sense of submission induced them to 
remain quiet, when Providence came to the assist- 
ance of his children, and publicly proclaimed the 
great virtue of His servant. Some time after the 
election of Frere Lheureux, several friends of M. de 
La Salle called to consult him. What was their 
surprise and astonishment when word was sent 
them by the servant of God, that he could not see 
them without having first obtained the permission 
from his superior! The Venerable might have 
asked this permission, and then met his friends, 
without making known the circumstances under 
which he was acting, but his love of humiliation 
and abasement knew no such subterfuge. His 
desire was to appear the least of men ; and the 
Scriptures were here fulfilled, for he who sought 
to humble himself was again exalted. His visitors 
asked some general questions, the answers to which 
satisfied them that the resignation of M. de La Salle 
was already the cause of regret. Not that the 
Brothers were dissatisfied with their new superior; 
but they already acknowledged that it was the 
persuasions of M. de La Salle, not their convictions, 
that had prevailed. The ecclesiastical authorities, 
informed of the change, wisely attributed it to the 



92 The Life and Work of 

humility of the Founder, and to the simplicity of the 
Brothers; they immediately ordered that matters 
should be returned to their original condition. 
Then was seen a holy contest. The joy of Fr^re 
Lheureux, in beholding himself divested of an 
authority his heart repelled, was only surpassed by 
the humility, the holy sadness, manifested by M. de 
La Salle, in seeing himself once more at the head 
of the society. 

The humble opinion which the Venerable de La 
Salle entertained of himself, led him also to think 
that Providence was chastising the little congrega- 
tion because of his sins. He had sent two Brothers 
to direct the school at Laon, which had been left 
him by M. Nyel. After this, he had retired to the 
solitude of Mount Carmel, near Louviers, a few 
miles from Rouen. He had taken every precaution 
not to be disturbed in his communings with God. 
A Brother had been placed at the head of the 
community at Rheims, and any urgent messages 
for the Venerable were to be sent through a holy 
religious, to whom the place of his retreat was 
known. But Providence did not desire even this 
momentary separation of His servant from the 
important duties he had assumed. Scarcely had 
he arrived at the mount when word was sent him 
that both Brothers at Laon were dangerously ill. 
They belonged to respectable families; and the 
nobility of the one and the patience of the other 
were manifested during the illness by which they 
were attacked. Brother Gabriel Drolin first fell 
ill, and was cared for with great charity by hi» 



The Ven, J. B, De La Salle. 93 

companion, Brother Nicholas Bourlette, who also 
endeavored, for a while, to keep both classes. In 
vain was he urged by the pastor to close the schools 
for a short time. Finally the latter said to him : 
** How can you manage under such difficulties T' 
**Why, my good pastor." replied the Brother, "my 
right foot is in one class, my left in the other ; 
my mind is with the sick Brother, and my heart 
is in heaven." Brother Gabriel recovered his 
health, but Brother Nicholas soon was called to 
receive the reward of his charitable attentions. The 
fatigues incurred in watching his sick companion 
brought on a violent fever, from which he died 
on the sixteenth of September, 1686, being twenty- 
five vears old. 

His parents, who were wealthy traders at 
Rheims, had sorely tried his vocation, but his con- 
stancy was victorious. He was known at Laon as 
** the modest Brother." The entire city mourned 
his death as a public calamity. His burial-place 
afterward became a pilgrimage station ; many went 
thither to implore the divine blessing, through his 
intercession. He was replaced by Brother Jean 
Paris, otherwise known as Brother Joseph, who 
faithfully followed in the footsteps of his predecessor. 
Previously, death had taken a victim in Brother 
Jean Francois, '* the first of the disciples of the Ven- 
erable de La Salle who showed his Brothers the way 
to heaven." He also belonged to a distinguished 
family in Rheims; and by his talents he had ob- 
tained a very lucrative position, when grace called 
him to leave all things to follow Christ. In 1682 



94 ^^^ i^ip ^^^ Work of 

he joined the humble band which then looked upoti 
M. Nyel as their leader. His last words breathed 
the joy of the exile whose eyes behold, in the 
distance, the borders of his true home. *' Ah^ 
beautiful Eternity ! ** said hej " how charming is thy 
house ! Love, only love ! We go to heaven only 
to meet our love/* 

A third offering was demanded by death's stern 
decree. Brother Maurice was taken on the thirtieth 
of April, 1687. These were flowers nipped at the 
bud. From their earliest consecration they had 
exhaled the balmy odor of those rare virtues that 
add to the joys of heaven. *' I do not know," said 
M. Dorigny, *^ which most to admire, — M. de La 
Salle or his disciples. 1 have already assisted several 
of them in their last moments ; yet, despite their 
youth, they have left this earth with all the joy and 
resignation of persons eighty years of age.'' 

For them, truly, death was 

** To close their eyes in silent prayer, 
And sleep, to waken in the skies ." * 

The severe character of the labor these good 
Brothers had undertaken was sufficient, in itself, 
to shorten life ; but when we add to this that 
they practised austerities that would have almost 
eclipsed those of the ancient anchorites, we can 
conceive that death found them easy victims. The 
Venerable de La Salle tried to hide his mortification 
and his penitenial acts ; but in vain. His disciples 
knew of them, and wished to imitate them. The 
reputation of his sanctity had gone abroad, and 

* E. de Guerin. 



The Ven, J, B, De La Salle. 95 

many persons insisted upon having him as their 
spiritual guide. Dom Francois E. Maillefer, in his 
Life of the Holy Founder, says : *' The Venerable 
was now considered a man of extraordinary sanctity. 
Many pious persons placed themselves under his 
direction. He refused, as long as possible, and only 
consented to receive a few penitents after he had, 
by severe trials, determined that these were not 
drawn to him by natural motives." The Abbe St. 
Thierry, a Benedictine, and several other distin- 
guished persons, came to see him, partially under 
the impression that he was impelled by false zeal. 
They retired, however, fully convinced that he was 
directed by the spirit of God. 



96 'The Life and Work of 



CHAPTER II. 

De La Salle desires to establish a School in Paris. — Mgr. Le Tellier 
seeks to detain him in Rheims. — P^res Barr6 and de La Barmondi^re 
are consulted. — School in Rue Priilcesse. — M. Compagnon. — Flis 
Character. — Mme. de MaintenOn. — Parish of St. Sulpice. — St. Vincent 
de Paul's Labors. — M. Olier. — The Venerable is persecuted. — M. 
Forbin-Janson investigates. — M. Baudrand succeeds M. de La 
Barmondi^re. — School in Rue du Bac. — M. de La Salle is called to 
Rheims. — He falls datigerously ill. — The Holy Viaticum. — M. He\» 
vetius cures the holy Founder. — Death of Brother Henri-Lheureux. — 
Results for the Society. 

" The Venerable de La Salle/' says F. Lucard, 
" was not a man to take a backward step/* Now 
that he felt the responsibility of his undertaking, 
and that his superiors assured him he could not 
do otherwise than remain at its head, he determined 
to seek its interest by a proceeding which marks 
his wisdom. M. Ayma tells us *'that it was obe- 
dience alone that kept M. de La Salle in Rheims ; but 
his heart was in Paris, and the good of the work 
he had engaged in urgently demanded the change. 
It was only from Paris, as a centre, that the new 
institute could extend its branches to all parts of the 
kingdom. Rheims had given the society its birth, 
but, if kept there alone, that city would also have 
been its burial-ground. Dependent upon the vari- 
able ideas of local ecclesiastical authorities, the 
new institute would have been obliged to change 



The Ven. J. B. De La Salle. 97 

its regulations at every hour. The superior, sub- 
ject to the caprices of particular'individuals, would 
have found his authority weakened, and subordina- 
tion lessened, among" his disciples. Moreover, the 
city of Rheims could not be the tutor of an institute 
which was to extend over all Catholic countries. 
Paris alone could give M. de La Salle the assistance 
and the protection he needed. He was convinced 
of this, but, docile to the designs of Providence, 
he patiently awaited their manifestation before act- 
ing.** The Venerable de La Salle was still more 
impressed with the necessity of making Paris the 
centre of his work, after finding that endeavors 
were made to detain him in Rheims, — endeavors 
which, while they were highly complimentary to 
himself and his institute, warned him that his 
greatest enemies, though unwittingly so, were those 
of his own household. 

Mgr. Le Tellier, like many others, only learned 
the full value of the man he had known so long, 
when he found that he was about to quit his 
diocese. " Remain with us,*' said the prelate. ** I 
will use my influence with the king to procure 
letters-patent for your institute, and I will give you 
money to found several establishments of your 
Brothers. I ask but one favor in return: that 
you will establish your schools exclusively in 
my archdiocese. The same condition has been 
accepted by the Sisters known as Des Orphelinesy 
But the Venerable de La Salle had already re- 
ceived letters from Paris, urging him to establish 

his headquarters there. Louis, his brother, was 

5 



98 The Life and Work of 

then at St. Sulpice ; and M. de La Barmondi^re 
requested him to call M. de La Salle's attention 
to the promise he had made some time before, 
that he would take charge of the parish school 
of St. Sulpice at his earliest convenience. M. 
Louis de La Salle, however, only asked for one 
Brother. The Venerable Founder answered that 
the rule he had established forbade sending a 
Brother alone, and that, under the circumstances, 
he could not acquiesce in his desires and the desires 
of his friends. He hoped, however, that arrange- 
ments might be made which would enable him to 
open the required establishment. Having heard 
Mgr. Le Tellier's wishes, the servant of God wrote to 
Pere Barre and to the pastor of St. Sulpice, asking 
their advice. He was answered that his work bore 
the impress of general utility, and that he should 
not limit its beneficent results to the city of Rheims. 
His advisers, moreover, told him that, by establish- 
ing his institute in Paris, there would be greater 
likelihood of its approbation by the Holy See, and 
the securing of its canonical existence. M. de La 
Salle made known these reasons to Mgr. Le Tellier, 
who agreed with them. Left free to follow the 
direction of Providence, he started with two experi- 
enced teachers to establish himself in the capital. 

A few years previously M. de La Barmondiere 
had opened a school in Rue Princesse, which he 
had confided to Pere Compagnon, a member of 
his community. There were about two hundred 
children in regular attendance, and their time was 
divided between study and manual labor. 



The Ven, J. B. De La Salle. 99 

A linen factory had been connected with the 
school, and this was under the direction of an able 
workman, named Rafrond. M. Compagnon was a 
zealous gentleman, but narrow-minded, sensitive, 
and capricious. Such a teacher could produce 
but transient results, and his school presented a sad 
scene of tumult and disorder. This rendered M. de 
La Barmondiere still more anxious for the arrival 
of La Salle and his companions. On the twenty- 
third of February, 1688, they started for their new 
and important mission. 

Louis XIV had, at this time, just erected an 
establishment, which was known as St. Cyr. It 
was planned by Mansard, and was founded for the 
education of two hundred and fifty girls of noble 
families, with decayed fortunes. It is the brightest 
gem in the crown of glory that history has placed 
upon the brow of Madame de Maintenon. It was, 
in its day, a model school. Society was indebted to 
it for many a bright ornament of womanhood which 
it sent forth ; literature is eternally indebted to it 
for having been the occasion of the writing of the 
Esther and the Athalie of Racine. But the work 
of St. Cyr has passed, and there remains a work 
which, about the same time, was seeking shelter 
in the great metropolis of France. It is the work 
of the Venerable de La Salle, with the humble 
beginning we have recorded. This man of God 
had come to a parish well prepared for his recep- 
tion. The district St. Germain, in which St. Sulpice 
is found, had been, not long previously, one of the 
most notorious portions of Paris. The number of 



lOO The Life and Work of 

monasteries and convents in the district was great. 
" But/* says Ravelet, *' in those abandoned streets, 
in those wide areas that divided the monasteries or 
convents, libertines and vagabonds could assemble 
unmolested: there they escaped the vigilance of 
the guardians of the peace. Thus, side by side with 
the pious population of the cloister, there was 
another element which had no sympathy with its 
neighbors ; on the contrary, it was infected with 
every vice. It was in this parish that St. Vincent de 
Paul, struck by its great disorders, preached his 
only mission in Pans, and brought about so many 
and such great conversions that he changed its lace. 
The following year M. Olier, St. Vincent's disciple 
and friend, took charge of these souls, and, aided 
by the zealous body of priests he had established, 
regenerated the character of the place. The 
parish soon acquired the reputation of being one 
of the most exemplary in Paris. We are told that 
it has not since lost its enviable reputation.'' Such 
was the soil in which was cast the first seed oi 
the new society in Paris. Therein did M. de La 
Salle renew associations which his heart had always 
held dear. He there found his old superiors, 
MM. Tronson, Baliyn, and Lechassier. They con- 
tinued to assist their former student, and gave him 
every mark of their sympathy and esteem. Pro- 
tected by such powerful influences, and preceded 
by his own reputation, M. de La Salle was received 
with open arms by M. de La Barmondiere. M. 
Compagnon also manifested great satisfaction in 
having for co-laborer a man already so well known, 



The Ven. J. B. De La Salle. loi 

and whose virtue was so generally and so favorably 
spoken of. 

Again the Venerable de La Salle was to learn 
how little we may count upon the protestations of 
men. Once more he was to find that, if he would 
only walk in the beaten path, allowing such dis- 
orders as were noticeable to continue, all would be 
well ; the instant he attempted to go beyond this, 
the old b-attle began, fortunately with the same 
results in his case. The Brothers did their utmost 
to second the zeal of M. Compagnon ; the latter, 
however, took offence at the many alterations that 
M. de La Salle wished to introduce in the direc- 
tion of the school. The efficient management of the 
new teachers caused disagreeable comparisons ; and 
this displeased him. His jealousy was aroused, 
and he endeavored to thwart their efforts. He 
even sought to discourage the Brothers, and thus 
to secure their withdrawal from Paris. M. de La 
Salle, thoroughly conversant with all that was 
attempted against him and his disciples, manifested 
not the least dismay. He said that, if his under- 
taking were the work of God, it would be sus- 
tained, despite the machinations of the ill-disposed. 
The Brothers, imitating the example of their father, 
worked silently, leaving their justification to the will 
and time of Providence. 

The vigilant pastor of St. Sulpice, perceiving the 
nature of the difficulties, determined to strike the 
evil at its root. With this view he resolved to place 
complete control of the school in the hands of the 
Venerable Founder. Having determined to make 



162 The Life and Work of 

the change, the pastor came one day to visit the 
schools, and finding the children noisy and inatten- 
tive, — for the Brothers, so far, were only assistants, 
and partially depended upon M. Compagnon for 
instructions, — he pretended to praise the results, in 
M. de La Salle's presence, but in such a tone 
that M. Compagnon understood quite well that 
the reverse of compliments was intended. His 
chagrin was greatly increased when he learned 
from the lips of his superior that henceforth the 
Abbe de La Salle was to have full direction of 
the school. ** M. Compagnon," says F. Lucard, 
*' had to content himself with the modest position 
of professor.*' The Venerable's success was to be 
bought at the price of personal sacrifices. One of 
the Brothers falling sick, the humble Founder im- 
mediately acted as he had formerly done at Rheims : 
taking the Brother's place, he taught the class with 
all the simplicity of the youngest novice. 

'' It was at this time," * says M. de La Salle's 
biographers, '' began to shine that remarkable 
talent in the servant of God which has placed him 
among the most illustrious educators. He found 
all the children assembled in one room, irrespective 
of their capacity, where each one received a lesson 
from the master." It was a custom sanctioned by 
ages ; but his genius suggested a better method. 
Having examined them, he divided them into three 
classes. Each was given a teacher, and was placed 
in a separate room. He established the same 
regulation in Paris that he had adopted at Rheims. 

April, 1688. 



The Ven. J, B, De La Salle. 103 

Each morning the children assisted at the holy 
sacrifice of the Mass. It was a touching and novel 
sight for all lovers of order and discipline to see 
several hundred children walking, two by two, in 
silence. Religious instruction was given morning 
and evening, for it was in this, especially, that the 
Venerable de La Salle desired his schools to be 
distinguished from others. The regulation deter- 
mined exactly the time for each exercise. The 
masters were never to cease their vigilance ; and 
it was by their example that M. de La Salle ex- 
pected to induce the children to love order, and 
to acquire a taste for habits of industry. 

The holy Founder would have desired to abolish 
the manual labor connected with the classes of St. 
Sulpice, but he felt that M. de La Barmondiere was 
not prepared to make such a concession. Partially 
to remove the evil results arising from the dis- 
t motions occasioned by this commingling of mental 
and manual work, he fixed the hours in which the 
children would be at the command of M. Rafrond 
in the factory, to the great disgust of this last-named 
gentleman. They were no longer looked upon as 
instruments of profit. While care was taken to 
make them skilful workmen, no less attention was 
paid to their intellectual progress. The happiest 
results crowned the Venerable de La Salle's regu- 
lations: the children became very assiduous, and 
their numbers increased. M. de La Barmondiere 
begged the holy Founder to augment the number 
of Brothers, promising a modest compensation for 
each. The stipend was indeed small, but every one 



104 ^he Life and Work of 

knows that the Brothers did not then, as they do 
not now, expect their reward here below. 

The enemy of all good could not look undisturbed 
upon a work so successfully carried on. He found 
a suitable instrument of his malicious designs, says 
P^re Garreau, in the former director of the school. 
In company with M. Rafrond, Compagnon deter- 
mined to bring about the destruction of the classes. 
The former complained that the children were not 
given him for sufficient length of time, and that he 
was losing money b)^ the present system. He threat- 
ened to leave at once, if his demands were not 
favorably met. M. de La Barmondiere quietly told 
him that, if the new order of things did not please 
him, he might retire. Taken unawares, his self- 
respect left him no choice : he resigned his position. 
If the Venerable de La Salle were capable of spite- 
ful feelings, he might easily gratify them; for the 
grumbler, finding no work, agreed to initiate a 
Brother in the difficulties of the trade. In a few 
weeks the pupil was as expert as the master. Un- 
happily, M. de La Salle was to suffer much more 
from the other source. 

One day, while the pastor held a meeting of ladies 
in his parlors, M. Compagnon entered hastily, and, 
with the most plausible air possible, told M. de La 
Barmondiere and his company that the new teachers, 
and particularly their superior, should not be relied 
upon. Like one whose conscience forced him to 
make known the facts, the calumniator proceeded 
to relate certain odious affairs, which he attributed 
to M. de La Salle. The assembly appeared indig- 



The Ven. y. B. De La Salle, io§ 

tiant ; even M. de La Barmondiere, with all his pas- 
siveness of disposition, was made the dupe of the 
accuser. He said that he regretted having placed 
so much confidence in a man who deserved so 
little. M. de La Salle, meanwhile, had learned the 
occurrence, and went to see the friend he seemed 
about to lose. He was received with the utmost 
coolness, was thanked for his past services, and 
given to understand that he might prepare to 
retire to Rheims. M. Baudrand, his confessor, was 
intrusted with the formal declaration to M. de La 
Salle that his services were no longer needed. This 
worthy clergyman, who knew the heart of his 
penitent, was grieved at being made the bearer of 
such sad intelligence, and he mingled his message 
with so many words of appreciation and kindness, 
that the venerable servant of God understood that 
it was his confessor's wish that he should not leave 
Paris without having first paid a farewell visit to 
the pastor. This he did, and, to his surprise, was 
received v/ith deep emotion by M. de La Barmon- 
diere. ''Oh! do not leave us,'' said the father; 
''keep the direction of the school; do not deprive 
the parish of the blessings it begins to experience 
from your zeal and that of your disciples. I will 
think about your departure later." " He will think 
of it for three years, before talking again upon the 
subject," said M. Baudrand, who had assisted at 
the reception, and who had labored strenuously to 
disabuse his pastor of the false impression under 
which Compagnon's calumnies had placed him. 
That the matter might be settled to the satisfac- 



165 The Life and Work of 

tion of all parties, M. de La Barmondifere appointed 
M. Forbin-Janson to make a strict examination of 
the school, its methods, the teachers and their con- 
duct. The future Bishop of Aries entered into the 
minutest details in this investigation. The pro- 
ceedings lasted several days, and all resulted in the 
complete vindication of the Brothers. " Too much 
praise cannot be given,'' writes one of the Vener- 
able's biographers, '* to the patience and resignation 
shown by M. de La Salle and his disciples during 
this trying circumstance. Abbe Forbin-Janson 
could not detect a word or a sign that might indicate 
discontent on the part of those thus subjected to 
the humiliation of a research into their conduct 
and its motives.'* "• What do you think of M. 
Compagnon ? " asked the investigator. ^' I am not 
charged with his conduct," answered the servant of 
God. *' I have but one favor to ask: it is that you 
will notify me and my Brothers of the faults you 
perceive in our method or in our conduct, that we 
may correct ourselves." Does this not sound like 
a trait borrowed from the life of the Prince-bishop 
of Geneva, the amiable St. Francis de Sales ? 

This beautiful spirit of simplicity burst the bonds 
that cunning and duplicity had been endeavoring 
to ensnare it with. La Salle triumphed. M. de La 
Barmondiere determined to render full, though 
tardy justice to him, by the removal of the source of 
all his annoyance. This, however, was left for his 
successor to accomplish. The good pastor had real 
difficulties, as well as imaginary ones, to contend 
with. Previous to his incumbency, St. Sulpice had, 



The Ven, J, B, De La Salle. 107 

for pastor, M. de Pousse, one of M. Olier's first dis- 
ciples. He had contracted a debt of five hundred 
thousand francs in the erection of the church, and 
M. de La Barmondiere found it impossible to pay 
the interest. He then took the method of asking 
voluntary contributions from his parishioners; after- 
ward he sought to make these contributions obliga- 
tory. Such was the discontent created by this 
measure, that the pastor was obliged to resign in 
favor of his assistant, M. Baudrand. This happened 
m 1689. 

The new pastor had already proved himself the 
Brothers' friend. He further showed that he under- 
stood whence arose their previous difficulties in 
the parish, by forbidding M. Compagnon to have 
any future relations with the school. The number 
of pupils increasing, a new school was opened 
near Pont Royal, at the extremity of Rue du Bac. 
Everything in the new establishment was regulated 
according to M. de La Salle's wishes. He was 
beginning to breathe freely, when a storm arose 
from an unexpected quarter. 

The Venerable at this time needed repose. His 
constant labor of mind and body had considerably 
weakened his health, but learning that difficulties 
were arising in his dear community of Rheims, he 
forgot his personal sufferings, to hasten to the assist- 
ance of his children. The director of the Brothers 
in that city had acted with such harshness, that he 
alienated the hearts of his inferiors. He had also 
allowed the normal school to fall into decay. A 
few days sufficed for the Venerable de La Salle 



io8 The Life and Work &f 

to restore everything to its former condition. As 
the preparatory novitiate seemed threatened in its 
present location, he transferred the young plants, 
that he watched with such solicitude, to Paris, where 
they would be under his immediate supervision. 
He had barely arrived in the capital when his illness 
showed alarming symptoms. The Brothers were in 
dismay at the apparent proximity of their father's 
demise. *'Alas, my children !" said he to them, " how 
much I regret that I am a burden upon your hands ! 
Since I am poor, let me be treated like the poor. 
Take me to the hospital, where I will no longer be 
a source of disquietude." The Brothers could not 
think of such a proceeding. They answered him 
only through their sobs and tears. Heaven, their 
only resource, was appealed to, and not in vain. 

While imploring mercy from above, they neglect- 
ed nothing that could possibly be of service to their 
father. Dr. Helvetius, a celebrated physician from 
Holland, was called in, and he prescribed a remedy 
which, he said, would prove decisive as to life or 
death. The Venerable de La Salle accepted the 
medicine, but, previous to taking the draught, he 
wished to receive the holy viaticum. M. Baudrand, 
followed by the priests of St. Sulpice and many 
seminarians, came to his room. During the cere- 
mony all the Brothers knelt around the couch on 
which lay their hearts' treasure. All were deeply 
moved when M. Baudrand asked the sufferer to 
bless his children, and to say some parting words 
which his disciples would treasure as a fond legacy. 
It was necessary for M. Bauarand to assist the 



The Ven. J, B. De La Salle. 109 

Venerable when he attempted to make the sign of 
the cross on the forehead of each of his disciples* 
"My children, my dear children/' said he in a voice 
choked with pain and emotion, *' I have but one 
advice to give you, that which the beloved disciple 
had constantly upon his lips : Love one another^ and be 
perfectly obedient y 

Dr. Helvetius, who was deeply interested in his 
patient, asked Pere Baudrand to bless the remedy 
he was about to employ, after which none but the 
Brothers and the physician remained in the room. 
The patient then swallowed the medicine, and the 
doctor watched the results with the utmost anxiety. 
The feelings of the Brothers in that crisis cannot 
easily be imagined. It were vain to attempt a de- 
scription. But what was the joy of physician and 
disciples to find that the remedy was efficacious ! 
In a short while the holv man could take some food. 
God had great designs upon M. de La Salle, and 
wished to preserve him for years to come. As soon 
as cured, he thought only of giving renewed thanks, 
and of consecrating himself more unreservedly to the 
sovereign Physician, the Master of life and death. 

Heaven had spared the father ; it now demanded 
a holocaust in the person of one of his beloved sons. 
It struck the Brother in whom he had centred 
his hopes for the future of the society. A short, 
but painful, malady bore away Brother Henri 
Lheureux, who, in 1686, had been elected superior- 
general. God chose to immolate him by a pre- 
mature death, at a time and under circumstances 
each of which was a thorn that cruelly tore the 



1 



1 16 The Life and Work of 

heart of this Abraham, who so loved one who might 
truly be called the Isaac of the institute. The Ven- 
erable de La Salle had appointed him director of 
the Brothers at St. Sulpice, and it was in this com- 
munity that death took him, in 1690. It was La 
Sailers intention to have had him, in a little while 
ordained priest. This unexpected reverse produced 
decided results as to the future of the society. 

At this time it was the intention of La Salle to 
have in the new society a certain number of priests 
who would act as directors of the communities and 
confessors of the Brothers. But the death of Brother 
Henri Lheureux he regarded as a warning from 
heaven that this course was not in accordance with 
the will of God. As such he regarded it, and forth- 
with decreed that no clergyman be admitted as a 
member of the congregation, and that no Brother 
aspire to the dignity of the priesthood. Time has 
sanctioned the wisdom of this decision. It brings 
with it that true union and harmony arising from 
equality of condition. It secures to the society an 
order of talent that would, under other circum- 
stances, make it simply a stepping-stone to another 
sphere of labor, as would inevitably be the case in 
missionary countries especially. The genius and 
the man of slender attainments, — each finds in it 
work to suit his capacity. There is no intelligence, 
how elevated soever it may be, that can say : *^ I am 
too learned to teach ; I know too much to impart 
my knowledge to others ; instruction is beneath me." 
Its saying so were proof enough that it was of an 
inferior grade. Neither Plato nor Aristotle thought 






The Ven. % B. De La Salle. in 

so, and they were deeply learned ; neither Roger 
Bacon nor Thomas Aquinas thought so, and they 
knew all that their times could gather together; 
neither Fenelon nor Bossuet thought so, and they 
were superior geniuses, the glory of their age, 
their masterpieces inspired by the instructions 
they were imparting. The regulation thus made 
by the holy Founder was another breaking-ofF 
from old customs. Hitherto all primary and inter- 
mediate teaching had been confided chiefly to 
clerics. Attempts had been occasionally made to 
found orders of lay teachers, but with no permanent 
result. It remained for the Venerable de La Salle 
to be the successful organizer, on a large scale, 
of such an order. The Brother of the Christian 
Schools is the pioneer among the various lay teach- 
ing-orders by which he is now surrounded. 



112 The Life and Work of 



CHAPTER III. 

Means adopted to firmly establish the Society. — The Venerable retires 
to meditate. — He secures a Novitiate in Vaugirard. — The Brothers 
make a three-months' Retreat. — The Normal School Teachers re- 
place them — Brothers Jean-Paris and Jean-Henri. — The Venerable 
makes a special Vow with the Brothers Nicolas Vuyart and Gabriel. 
— The Formula. — Its Meaning. — M. Baudrand wishes the Brothers to 
change their Dress. — The Venerable refuses. — Vaugirard : its Poverty. 
^-Famine in 1693. — Count du Charmel. 

The Venerable de La Salle was too keen-sighted 
not to perceive, despite the successes of the past, 
the horizon was laden with trouble for the future. 
Thus far he had opened schools which, owing to his 
personal supervision, had given great satisfaction. 
His individual worth was such, that any enterprise 
he sanctioned, found supporters among intelligent 
Christians. But the perpetuation and extension of 
the institute ? There were children to be educated 
throughout France. He could not be everywhere. 
His teachers, to be successful, must be thoroughly 
formed. No just mind will hold the Venerable de 
La Salle responsible for the faults of M. NyeFs 
disciples. It was his charity that made him assume 
the management of the new work. But, now that 
he has identified himself with it, his genius will em- 
ploy such means as could alone succeed in forming 
that intelligent class of men through whom he desired 
to perpetuate the task of the Christian education of 



The Ven. J, B, De La Salle. \\% 

youth. " It was not sufficient for him to have chosen 
intelHgent co-laborers, and to have subjected them 
to a uniform rule : it was necessary to form them. A 
delicate and minute labor ; long, difficult, frequently 
thankless ; a labor that he could have begun himself 
in the novitiate and normal school, but which direc- 
tors, perfectly initiated in the science of teaching, 
were to continue and complete/'^ 

The regrettable occurrences which took place at 
Rheims, and some acts of insubordination in the 
community of Paris, had made the Venerable more 
freely understand the nature of the ground upon 
which he was building, and the character of the 
materials with which his work was being erected. 
Among his disciples were some whose time of 
probation had been but short, and who had not had 
the opportunity to acquire those virtues which 
distinguish the religious teacher. The exalted idea 
which he had of his duties; the qualities of mind and 
heart which he felt were necessary in those who 
entered his institute, which now embraced a course 
hitherto unknown in the schools of his day,— all 
these considerations rendered it necessary for him 
to adopt measures by which his disciples could be 
fully prepared for their position. 

F6nelon, whose authority in matters of education 
none will question, pertinently asks : ** How are men 
to be governed, if not well known? How are they 
to be known, if we live not with them ? For this 
purpose it is necessary to see them closely, to draw 
from their hearts all that may there be lurking. 

♦ F. Lucard, " Vie,** etc., p. (}T^ 



1 14 The Life and Work of 

They must be examined in every light ; their maxims 
need sifting ; their talents must be exercised ; the 
solidity of mind and the strength of virtue they have 
acquired must be determined.'* 

God has allowed no order of things to exist op- 
posed in itself to the success of His designs in favor 
of men, without giving at the same time a means 
by which all such obstacles may be overcome. 
This principle the holy Founder well understood ; 
and perceiving the necessities of the hour, he took 
the surest methods to meet them. In prayer and 
meditation he sought their solution. He retired 
for a few days to a desolate retreat, where, alone 
with God, he studied the best way in which to 
accomplish the good he desired to effect. The re- 
treat which he had made in 1684, had given him 
strength to renounce his patrimony, to become poor 
with the poorest; that which he made in 1690, was 
productive of no less important results for his insti- 
tute. Ever distrustful of himself, his first care was to 
insure the continuance of his society, even should 
unforeseen circumstances take him away unexpect- 
edly. For this purpose, during his seclusion, he 
resolved : first, to make, with two other Brothers, 
a vow to defend, and to sustain till death, the Society 
of the Brothers of the Christian Schools ; secondly, to 
open a novitiate for his disciples ; thirdly, to make 
it obligatory upon all the Brothers to write to 
him once a month upon their spiritual condition , 
fourthly, to make an annual visit to each of his 
communities. No mention is here made of the 
sick, the aged, or the infirm ; but these were not 



The Ven. y. B. De La Salle. 1 15 

forgotten by the charitable Founder. They were 
to find in the novitiate all the attention and care 
that could be suggested by the fondest charity 
and the most heartfelt gratitude. 

It was necessary for the Venerable de La Salle to 
take some precautions at this time, for several of his 
Brothers had fallen sick, and others were so delicate 
as to be liable to become victims at any moment. 
Thus the servant of God found himself prevented, 
on one side, from extending his work, so limited 
were his means; on the other hand, if he did not 
adopt some immediate measures to form new sub- 
jects, it was only a question of time for his work 
to fall through. He, therefore, made search for 
some more suitable location: his desire was, if pos- 
sible, to secure his new home in the vicinity of the 
grounds on which M. Olier had established his 
congregation of St. Sulpice. His happiness was at 
all times to designate the founder of the Sulpitians 
by the tender name of father. To St. Sulpice and 
its professors he held himself indebted for whatever 
of good there was in his character and in his enter- 
prise. His humility still allowed the thought ot 
escaping the superiorship to haunt him. He im- 
agined that, by associating his society with that of 
St. Sulpice, it would be better protected, and he 
would thus be enabled to retire from an office that 
he felt unfit to occupy. Admirable as was the 
Society of St. Sulpice, much as its spirit was 
worthy of imitation. Providence had destined for the 
daughter institute an extension that St. Sulpice was 
never to attain. In proportion as Me de La vSalle 



1 1 6 The Life and Work of 

sought to evade the honors of direction, Almighty 
God so disposed events as to compel him to continue 
to receive them. The proposed union was not 
deemed expedient ; but, as a partial consolation, M. 
de La Salle was assisted in his researches for a 
suitable location, and he soon secured for his resi- 
dence a place in Vaugirard, which has since become 
historic in the annals of the institute. Here M. de 
La Salle found himself near his old-time souvenirs 
with opportunities to practise virtues dear to hi? 
heart. In September, 1691, he rented this spacious 
though impoverished house, and, the following 
month, called some Brothers from each community 
to meet him there. 

We have seen that the Venerable had already 
shown his interest in the training of teachers who 
would take charge of village schools, where one 
person could do the required labor. In this he had 
manifested his breadth of view ; and in the present 
circumstance, where several of his Brothers were to 
be taken from their duties for a while, these teachers 
proved their gratitude. Being requested to replace 
his disciples for a time, these good gentlemen read- 
ily consented, and demonstrated, not only their skill 
in successfully managing their classes, but their joy 
in being deemed worthy of confidence by M. de La 
Salle temporarily to replace his disciples. 

If the Venerable had suffered anguish of mind as 
to the dispositions and the motives of his children, 
the pleasure he must have experienced in meeting 
them at Vaugirard can well be imagined. He found 
them true to their vocation % anxious to acquire its 



The Ven. J, B. De La Salle. 117 

spirit ; desirous only of knowing the wishes of their 
father, which they forthwith promised to consider 
as the will of God. All the Brothers manifested 
this same admirable spirit ; yet, there are four whose 
names must be handed down to the admiration of 
their successors. We marvel at the zeal of the 
early missionaries, their intrepidity, their forgetful- 
ness of themselves ; well, in the early history of the 
lives and deeds of the first Brothers formed by 
M. de La Salle, there is all that the most exacting 
can require, more than the most reasonable would 
expect, both in matter of heroism and in point of 
interest. We can well conceive how, with such 
men, the Founder could build up a strong and per- 
manent institution. Christ selected but twelve 
apostles to convert the world ; the four Brothers of 
whom we are to speak would have been numerous 
enough, their faith and zeal considered, to estab- 
lish the Institute of the Christian Schools. 

The first we shall mention is Brother Jean-Paris, 
Director of Laon. Severely tried by an asthma 
that gave him little respite during the day, and none 
at night, this good Brother was in constant suifering, 
which, nevertheless, did not prevent him from 
attending to his duties as teacher and director. 
His pupils, seeing such devotedness, were careful to 
give him little trouble, while his Brothers lavished 
upon him every mark of affection and esteem. 
When called by the Venerable de La Salle to meet 
the others at Vaugirard, Brother Jean-Paris was 
also suffering great pain from a swelling of the knee. 
Now, it must be remembered that the orders sent 



1 18 The Life and Work of 

to the various Brothers required, according to the 
rule, that the journey should be made, as much as 
possible, on foot. What was the surprise and edifi- 
cation of the travellers, who had, according to in- 
structions, stopped at a certain inn, near Soissons, 
when they beheld Brother Jean-Paris painfully hob- 
bling along as best he could, assisted by his com- 
panion ! They might have then all returned home : 
that sight was as good as a whole retreat. They 
had example of how far a man could do violence 
to human nature and triumph over its infirmities, 
wheil totally absorbed in the spirit of his state. It 
eloquently said to each of them : Do thou in the 
same spirit; but they determined at least that the 
sufferer should not go farther afoot. They required 
him to take passage on a boat which was about to 
depart, and which brought him within a short dis- 
tance of Paris. 

Though suffering from acute rheumatism. Brother 
Jean-Henri was not less heroic than his fellow-in- 
arms. He was director at Rheims when the sum- 
mons to repair to Paris reached him. He might, 
in all justice, have claimed exemption, but he had 
been too long in the disciplined school over which 
the Venerable de La Salle presided, to give any 
excuse. Though warned of the risks he ran in 
venturing afoot upon such a journey, he intrepidty, 
we might say rashly, ventured to fulfil the orders 
of his beloved father. Painfully he dragged himself 
as far as Soissons, where he met the Brothers of 
Rethel, Guise and Laon. In vain did his compan- 
ions declare that he should also take passage by the 



The Ven. J. B. De La Salle. 1 19 

boat : when they started, he pretended to be cured, 
and went his way with them. His courage was not 
equalled by his strength. Weakness and excru- 
ciating pain compelled him to admit that he could 
proceed no farther. Then was seen a touching 
sight. The Brothers, two by two in turn, made a 
sort of chair of their clasped hands, and thus carried 
the brave but discomfited soldier till they reached 
the headquarters of his general. The sight of these 
two valiant religious was painful in one sense to 
the holy Founder, w^ho never intended his instruc- 
tion to be taken in their literal meaning by such 
sufferers : but at the same time his heart was over- 
whelmed with joy when he saw that his infant society 
already possessed men so far advanced in the love of 
mortification and forgetfulness of self. He received 
them with all the love and the esteem that his heart 
of a father and his knowledge of their merit sug- 
gested. To prevent the recurrence of the impru- 
dence which he found these two Brothers had com- 
mitted, he regulated that in future neither the aged 
nor the infirm should travel afoot. '* As for the two 
heroes of the day, the one forgetting his asthma and 
swelling, the other his rheumatism, both vied with 
the youngest members of the retreat in the practice 
of every virtue, and the acquiring of that degree of 
perfection which they beheld in the person of their 
Venerable Founder.'' 

During this retreat M. de La Salle was fully 
compensated for all his past troubles. But there 
were two Brothers whose dispositions were so re- 
markable, whose piety was of so pure a type, and 



I20 The Life and Work of 

whose judgment of men and things was so accu- 
rate, that the Venerable determined to place them 
as two pillars in the new society. They were 
Brothers Nicolas Vuyart and Gabriel Drolin. The 
retreat lasted three months, during which time he 
held frequent consultations and conferences with 
these two Brothers. These consultations filled 
them with inexpressible delight. The result of 
their combined opinions was, that they determined 
to perform a supreme act of consecration to the 
Almighty, on the anniversary of the day on which 
Mary Immaculate had been offered in the temple. 
When the daughter of Anna and Joachim offered 
herself to God, He looked with love on her in 
whom there was no stain. When the sun rose upon 
the day when the Venerable de La Salle and his 
two beloved disciples pronounced their perpetual 
consecration to Him, He beheld three chosen 
princes, whose life was to be spent in recovering for 
youth part of that purity and innocence which con- 
stituted Mary's glory. Children cherish and hoard 
up the last will and testament of a fond father or 
a loving mother. The Christian Brothers, with 
reason, look upon the parchment, whose contents 
we will here reproduce, as upon a relic of the past, 
which gives the most encouraging lesson to the 
children of the institute at present, and which will 
be treasured as an heirloom to be transmitted for 
the edification and the instruction of the Brothers 
of the future. 

When the Mass of the day had been offered, and 
each had been fed with the Bread of Life, the three 



The Ven. J, B, De La Salle. 121 

chosen ones knelt at the steps of the altar, and pro- 
nounced aloud the following vow: '* Most Holy 
Trinity, Father, Son and Holy Ghost! prostrate 
with the most profound respect before Thy infinite 
and adorable majesty, we consecrate ourselves 
entirely to Thee, to procure, as far as possible, and 
as far as our efforts will permit, the establishment 
of the Society of the Christian Schools, in the man- 
ner that we will believe most agreeable to Thee, and 
most advantageous to the society. And for this 
purpose I, Jean-Baptiste de La Salle, I, Nicholas 
Vuyart, and I, Gabriel Drolin, from the present 
hour, and till the last moment of our lives, or till 
the final establishment of this society, do make vows 
of association and union, to procure and to maintain 
the establishment of the said society, without the 
power of withdrawing from it, even were but we 
three to remain therein, and that we were obliged 
to ask alms, and to live on bread only. For this 
purpose we promise to do together, and by common 
consent, all that we will believe, conscientiously 
and without any human consideration, to be for the 
best interests of the society. 

" Done this twenty-first day of November, Feast 
of the Presentation of the Most Blessed Virgin, in 
the year of our Lord, 1691.*' 

If the text of this vow be carefully studied, we 
shall, in some sense, obtain the key-note of the in- 
tentions of the courageous three. They positively 
promised but one thing : to establish the Institute 
of the Brothers of the Christian Schools. What 

the means to be employed in its establishment 

6 



1 22 The Life and Work of 

were, what the limit or sphere of action within 
which the society would act, what the extent to 
which the society was to be allowed to spread, — all 
these were so many questions which they wisely 
left to time and experience to decide. Thus the 
Venerable spared his successors the pain of even 
indirectly deviating from any practice he might 
have established. Principles, and severe ones also, 
he did leave, but their application he ventured not 
to decide beforehand. Not that either he or his 
two generous companions feared the future : their 
vow proves the contrary. They vow, if necessary 
to live upon bread only, and even determine, if re- 
quired, to beg that same, rather than abandon their 
purpose ; but they demonstrate what so many saints 
had shown before them : that religious vows bind 
men to do a determined good without taking away 
a certain liberty in the manner of doing it. They 
did not fear the machinations of jealousy, for, in 
the text of their consecration, they state that they 
would '' conscientiously, and free from all human 
consideration, do all that they would believe to be 
for the best interests of the society.'* The Vener- 
able de La Salle had already formed his disciples, 
especially Brothers Nicholas and Gabriel, to seek 
only the will and glory of God in all things ; thus 
justifying in their regard what a learned author 
has remarked of their Founder : '' If,** says P6re 
Huguet, ** we pay attention to each of his proceed- 
ings, we will remark, and not without astonish- 
ment, that he never did anything to procure himself 
the protection of worldly power.** After this 



The Ven. J. B, De La Salle, 123 

solemn act of consecration, the Venerable de La 
Salle called his disciples for the last time, before 
allowing them to return to their respective houses. 
He addressed them in words full of heavenly enthu- 
siasm. All were anxious to return to their fields 
of labor, determined that they would show to 
angels and to men that they were worthy followers 
of their chosen and beloved head. They had 
learned so much of his hidden virtues, they had 
basked so long in the sunshine of his fervid example, 
that, though they felt it good to be there, they 
knew that it was their duty to go forth and to dis- 
seminate among the less favored disciples of M. de 
T.n Salle who had not heard his burning words, or 
seen his saintly example, the seed which had been 
so plentifully cast, and which, with a divine blessing, 
had produced such astonishing fruits in their hearts. 
As a tie by which the fruits of this three months' 
retreat were to be preserved and increased, it was 
unanimously promised that the}^ would write once 
a month to their venerated chief, to obtain new 
lights, life, and aid in the work of their own perfec- 
tion and the salvation of youth. The master is no 
less strengthened than his disciples ; he is prepared 
to begin the battle with renewed vigor. Nor has he 
long to wait. His is a continual warfare. Hitherto 
he had been accustomed to the buffets of his enemies ; 
now God permits him to be tried even by his 
friends, among whom few ranked higher than M. 
Baudrand. " Thus,'' says Pere Garreau, " the saints 
help one another to reach heaven." 
The pastor of St. Sulpice had obtained permission 



124 The Life and Work of 

from M. de La Salle to have the scholars of the pre- 
paratory novitiate to act as acolytes. This was for 
them a source of some distraction, Avhich, however, 
their superior suffered, as he knew he could put 
a stop to it when the young men. would enter the 
novitiate proper. But M. Baudrand then urged 
upon de La Salle to change the costume of the 
Brothers, saying that it should be made as nearly 
as possible like that of the clergy. M. de La Salle 
admitted that a priest should dress as one, and 
therefore consented to revest himself in the ecclesi- 
astical habit. Farther than this he was unwilling 
to be led. He had vowed to do all in his power 
for the best interests of the society, conscientiously, 
and without human consideration ; here was an op- 
portunity to observe this solemn promise. In a 
modest but positive manner M. de La Salle refused 
to make any concession. Bossuet says that, **when 
Providence sends men a legislator. He fills him with 
the twofold spirit of wisdom and foresight." Both 
qualities are manifest in the memorial which M. de 
La Salle prepared in defence of his position. He 
submitted his views to MM. Tronson and Baiiyn, 
and both warmly approved his reasons, and en- 
couraged him to firmness in the position he had 
assumed. 

'' There are few things more prejudicial to relig- 
ious communities,*' says the venerable servant of 
God, "than changes in matters of importance ; and it 
is to the facility with which such alterations are per- 
mitted that we must attribute the greater part of the 
disorders which have crept into monasteries. . . . 



The Ven, J. B. De La Salle. i2$ 

For religious, the change of costume is an impor- 
tant matter. During five years the Brothers have 
worn this habit in five principal cities in the dioceses 
of Rheims and Laon. It is there looked upon as 
a decent dress, and one that is likely to maintain 
the masters in the regularity and modesty proper 
to their state, and likewise to attract the respect 
of their scholars. For nearly two years it has been 
worn in Paris, and no one has thought of finding 
fault, save the pastor of St. Sulpice.'** History 
repeats itself in the Church as well as in the world : 
':he Venerable de La Salle had done his duty, 
etnd he was made to suffer for it. M. Baudrand 
refused to allow the novitiate to continue in his 
parish. *' The Venerable de La Salle,*' says Ravelet, 
'* could not accede, and did not wish to leave the 
parish. He had recourse to prayer and mortifi- 
cation. He implored heaven to change the disposi- 
tions of those with whom he had to deal. His 
patience was subjected to a severe and protracted 
trial. M. Baudrand was inflexible, and even told M. 
de La Salle that it was useless for him to do vio- 
lence to heaven ; that he would never give his 
consent. God," says the pious journalist, **is more 
easily moved than men, and is at the same time master 
of their hearts. He listens to the prayers of his 
servants." M. Baudrand concluded the struggle 
by giving his consent ; and the Venerable de La Salle, 
to prevent further difficulties in like directions, 
requested M. de Harlay, Archbishop of Paris, to 

* •• Mem. sur les Habits des Fibres," par M. J. B. de La Salle. MS, 
Arch, of the Regime. 



126 The Life and Work of 

recognize the new establishment as a regular relig- 
ious community. 

His request was granted, and on the first of 
November, 1692, the pious Founder had given the 
habit to six novices. To persevere in such poverty 
as here surrounded the children of La Salle, demand- 
ed truly apostolic zeal and courage. '' M. de La 
Salle,*' writes Pere Blain, ** having secured victory 
from the throne of grace, now thought only of 
taking full possession of his dear Bethlehem, for 
this is the only name by which we can designate a 
house whose poverty and solitude placed it in such 
apposition to the poor grotto in which Christ gave 
Himself to the world." A few benches upon which 
to sit, and a few miserable mattresses thrown upon 
the ground, were its only furniture. The roof being 
leaky, the windows badly closed, and the lights in 
many cases being broken, we may imagine the 
condition of the poor novices and their Founder, 
when either rain, snow or cold prevailed. ** A sort 
of holy rivalry/' continues Pere Blain, " was kept 
up between the disciples and the master. There 
were too or three good mattresses intended for the 
sick. The Brothers each day put one of these 
under the miserable hay-bag upon which M. de La 
Salle slept, and each evening he was equally careful 
to remove the little chance of comfort that had been 
innocently given him by his children.*' Their 
poverty was so great that they were obliged to live 
upon what other communities were pleased to give 
them. One of the novices went each day to seek this 
miserable repast, and more than once he was stopped 



The Ven, y. B, De La Salle. 127 

in the way as he returned, and partially deprived 
of his scanty meal by vagrants, who robbed him of 
the only resource by which Hfe was to be preserved. 
Badly nourished, poorly lodged, the Brothers bore 
on their persons the marks of poverty. Patched 
clothes, shoes that beggarmen would cast aside as 
unworthy their notice, hats that had lost their shape 
from long usage, — such constituted their only pro- 
tection from the cold of winter and the heat of 
summer. Still, beneath these rags there shone the 
Christian gentleman. If their garments were poor, 
their souls were pure ; if their bodies suffered, their 
hearts rejoiced : and this joy was depicted on every 
countenance. ** Poverty repels only when it is the 
fruit of, and accompanied by, vice and irregularity. 
When, on the contrary, it is accepted as the better 
part by Christians, it is at once transfigured, and 
assumes a heavenly aspect. Such it is, as seen in 
the saints ; such we see it in the Venerable de La 
Salle and his disciples. Many of these had aban- 
doned opulence and ease, to accept obloquy and the 
portion of the poor. Their chief had given them 
the example, and he found children worthy of being 
his followers.""^ Vaugirard is therefore a cherished 
chapter in the history of the Institute of the Brothers 
of the Christian Schools. We need not be astonished, 
then, that one of the most distinguished sonsf of 
La Salle should, in our own day, have made it his 
watchword, and closed one of his most eloquent 
pages with the words, ^'Remember Vaugirard T' The 

^ Ravelet, "Histoire du Ven. J. B. de La Salle," p. 204.. 
t Brother Philippe. 



128 The Life and Work of 

novices were there prepared for the sad days that 
were at hand. The Brothers of Paris, by visiting 
their solitude every holiday, likewise breathed the 
air of sanctity and self-denial which abounded there- 
in ; and now came the hour of trial. 

In 1693 a terrible famine ravaged all France; it 
was felt with increased severity in the large cities. 
Paris was the scene of heart-rending misery, in which 
the novices of Vaugirard had a large share. Louis 
XIV did not prove unworthy of his reputation. 
Daily he had immense quantities of bread distrib- 
uted. Madame de Maintenon gave a large portion 
of her fortune to the perishing ; and Mgr. Godet des 
Marais, Bishop of Chartres, who was an ancient 
comrade of M. de La Salle, after having sold his 
gold and silver vessels, also gave his entire revenues 
to the sufferers. Such examples found many imi- 
tators, and thus the horrors of the situation were 
partially lessened. Withal, the misery was extreme. 
Gangs of starving men and women were seen wran- 
gling over the possession of articles of food which, 
in other days, would have excited their disgust. 
The Brothers of Paris did not forget the novices 
at Vaugirard. From their own scanty pittance the}" 
saved a portion, which, however, did not always 
reach its destination. On the way it was sometimes 
taken from the carriers. On such occasions the 
young apostles of poverty rejoiced in their misery ; 
but the Venerable de La Salle, unwilling to expose 
his children to increased suffering, brought them to 
live with the Brothers at St. Sulpice. 

Notwithstanding the efforts thus made, his disci- 



The Ven. j. B. De La Salle. 129 

pies were at times on the verge of starvation. One 
day the steward came to tell the holy Founder that 
he had but four-pence to purchase food for the day. 
** Go/' said the holy man, ^^ and make your purchases 
as usual; God will provide you with the means/' 
The Brother obeyed, and, as he went his way, per- 
ceived a number of poor persons awaiting their turn 
to receive the charity dispensed with a Hberal hand 
by a wealthy lady. The steward placed himself in 
line with the others, and on seeing him, the good 
lady exclaimed : ''How is this, Brother? what brings 
you here ? '' Having learned of the misery in which 
the Brothers were, she at once sent them assistance, 
and the same day went to intercede for them with 
M. Baudrand. The latter had not forgotten them, 
but surrounded as he was by an extensive parish, he 
could not think of everybody. Touched by what 
he had learned, the good pastor hastened to see the 
Brothers, and was met on the way by M. de La 
Salle, who told him in a few words the straits to 
which they were reduced. *' It is heaven that has 
made us meet to-day," said M. Baudrand. '' The 
king has just sent me a large sum to divide among 
my poor; here are two hundred francs: I will see 
that your Brothers want nothing." A magnificent 
promise ; but historical justice compels us to add 
that when, three months after, La Salle sent the 
good pastor the baker's bill, he paid it, but with the 
remark that he would deduct the amount from the 
Brothers' salary. Whereupon the servant of God, 
somewhat surprised at M. Baudrand's behavior, re- 
plied in these noble words : *' He who sends our 



tjo The Life and Work of 

Brothers among the poor children, will furnish them 
with the daily bread that they earn at the price of 
their strength and their health/'* 

Nor did the other communities of Brothers in 
various parts of France escape the general dearth, 
but Providence prevented them from being reduced 
to extremities. They all of them passed through 
the sad period without having to desist from teaching 
school. In 1694 better days shone upon France. 
The crops were abundant, the industries began to 
resume their wonted activity, and the terrors of 
the late famine became something to speak of in 
comfortable homes. The Venerable de La Salle 
hastened back to his loved retreat at Vaugirard. 

The virtue practised there could not always 
remain unknown. M. Baiiyn often retired thither 
in his spare moments, to be edified by the examples 
he met there. Even seculars found attractions in 
this new Thebaid. Each year the Brothers of the 
various communities came to Vaugirard for their 
vacations and their annual retreat. On one occa- 
sion three young Brothers reached the vicinity of 
Vaugirard during the night, and called upon the 
parish priest of the village for lodging. Struck by 
their modesty and their intelligence, the good priest 
at once spoke about them to Count du Charmel, who 
always spent the summer in his villa near Vaugirard. 
The count, who was a very pious gentleman, was 
surprised that he had not sooner known the nursery 
of piety situated so near his residence. He was so 
pleased with the three travellers, whom he insisted 
* F. Lucard, "Vie M. de La Salle," 2°^^ Ed., p. 114. 



The Ven. J, B, De La Salle. 131 

upon seeing, that he offered their Founder, through 
them, his villa as a stopping-place for the Brothers 
in future. Not satisfied with this mark of kindness, 
he afterward called upon M. de La Salle, and pre- 
sented him with several articles required for the 
altar service. He recognized the greatness of soul 
of the man of God. A close intimacy was after- 
ward estabhshed between the two, which terminated 
only with the death of the count. The Venerable 
de La Salle pronounced the eulogy of his patron in 
four words, by saying that he was a man ''whose 
prayer was continual.'' The count, be it remem- 
bered, was not always such. In the early part of 
his career he was the gayest among the gay that 
thronged the brilliant, bad court of Louis, in the 
first part of his reign, but meeting a pious book, he 
read it, and forthwith devoted himself to a life of 
piety and austerity. The outspoken St. Simon 
thus records his impression of him at this period of 
his life : *' He was a man of the celice, of iron points, 
of all sorts of instruments of continual penance, 
an extreme faster, and otherwise sober to excess, 
though naturally a great eater." "^ 

* "M^moires," t ii; p. 219. See also t'v, p. 25. 



132 The Life and Work of 



CHAPTER IV. 

The Brothers ask to make perpetual Vows. — ^Twelve are selected.— 
Trinity- Sunday, 1694. — The Venerable seeks to resign the General- 
ship. — An important Document signed. — Hardened Sinners are 
converted. — M. de La Salle suffers great physical Pain. — Sister 
Louise. — M. Baudrand. — The Venerable rents a Dwelling. — He 
visits his Communities. — A young Calvinist converted. — The Rules 
and Constitutions. — Death of Mgr. de Harlay. — Private Chapels in- 
terdicted by Cardinal de Noailles. — M. de La Ch^tardie. — His zeal. — 
Saint Cassian. — Two Schools established. — -The Writing-Masters. — 
The Training-School of St. Hippolyte. — The Venerable's Plan of 
Studies in 1697 adopted by France in 1 851. 

Eugenie de Guerin has said that '' nothing is 
better than faith for the soul, and friendship for the 
heart/' Indeed men are never more firmly united 
than in sufferings borne in a spirit of faith, and in 
submission to the principles taught by our holy 
religion. The trials which seemed about to shat- 
ter to pieces the new institute, did but settle it 
more firmly upon the foundation of faith which had 
been given it as its surest support. '* Thus are the 
works of God made. They live on what would 
destroy worldly enterprises.** ^ What was more 
likely to dishearten these good teachers than fam- 
ine, cold, misery of every description ? Yet, so far 
from being discouraged, they w^^^'^d irrevocably 
to dedicate themselves to the voration they had 

* Ravelet, p 210. 



The Ven. J. B. De La Salle. 133 

embraced. " Why should we act as mercenary 
laborers ? " said these generous souls. ** We give 
ourselves to God for a year or three, and when our 
time is expired, we are at hberty to change masters. 
Is this what God expects from us? Are we to 
have one foot in religion, and the other in the 
world ? Surely, if we have the good-will to conse- 
crate ourselves to God forever, He will strengthen 
our hearts/* The Venerable de La Salle knew the 
earnestness of those who then wrote to him ; but 
he was too prudent to take his disciples at their 
word, in what might possibly be, for some, only the 
heat of momentary fervor. Knowing that, while 
the spirit is willing, the flesh is still weak, M. de 
La Salle delayed answering their petition. 

" Ten years had elapsed since the General 
Chapter, held in 1684; the wise Founder had taken 
time to study the character of his disciples, and to 
inspire them with the virile sentiments of abnega- 
tion by which he was animated.'** In 1694 he 
chose twelve of the most virtuous among them, 
and notified them that they might prepare to 
contract perpetual vows of stabilit}^ and obedience. 
Brothers Nicholas Vuyart and Gabriel were first 
selected. These had persevered in their holy dis- 
positions, and had many times in their hearts 
promised what they were soon to vow. The other 
ten were, among the Brothers, what the chosen 
soldiers are to whom are given the defences which 
cover a city: they were the picked ten of the 
institute, of tried zeal and sincere piety. 

* F. Lucard, p. 77. 



1 34 7^he Life and Work of 

Affianced youths never heard the sound of mar- 
riage-bell, nor soldier the trumpet that called to 
arms, with more joy than did this new college of 
apostles listen to the assurance given them by their 
venerated father, that at length he was to permit 
them to perform the solemn act that was to be the 
crowning glory of their lives. A retreat of some 
days was made, that, the lights of the Holy Ghost 
being more abundant, and the fire of charity burn- 
ing still more brightly in their hearts, they might 
be holocausts worthy of the cause in which the 
offering was to be made, and of Him to whom it 
was to be presented. 

It was determined that the vows should be pro- 
nounced on Trinity-Sunday. After the exercises 
of the retreat, the twelve chosen ones were more 
than ever impressed with the necessity of the act 
toward the performance of which they had looked 
forward with so much confidence and love. They 
felt, on that Trinity-Sunday, more than ever, their 
dependence on Him in whom they lived, moved, 
and had their being. They yearned to consecrate 
themselves unreservedly to Him who gives the lily 
of the field its brightness, to the flowers of our 
gardens their variegated hues, to the earth and all 
it contains that diversity of purpose and that one- 
ness of end which make us acknowledge that God is 
love, and that those who wish to be His must love 
Him in return. 

It was with sentiments of joyous solemnity that, 
after the Mass on Trinity-Sunday morning, all the 
other Brothers having retired, the Venerable de La 



The Ven, j. B, De La Salle, 135 

Salle first, and the others after him, pronounced the 
following formula : **Most Holy Trinity, Father, 
Son and Holy Ghost, prostrate with the most pro- 
found respect before Thy infinite and adorable 
Majesty, I consecrate myself entirely to thee, to pro- 
cure Thy glory as far as possible, and as far as thou 
wilt require of me ; and for this purpose I, J. B. de 
La Salle, priest, promise and make vow to unite 
myself, and to live in society, with Brothers Nicholas 
Vuyart, Gabriel Drolin, Jean Partois, Gabriel- 
Charles Resigade, Jean Henry, Jacques Compain, 
Jean Jacquot, Jean-Louis de Macheville, Michel- 
Barthelemy Jacquin, Edm. Leguillon, Gilles Pierre 
and Claude Roussel, to keep, together and by associ- 
ation, gratuitous schools, in whatever place it may 
be, even if I am obliged for this purpose to beg, and 
to live on bread only ; or to do in the said society 
that at which I may be employed, whether by the 
body of the society, or the superiors who may have 
the guidance thereof. Therefore I promise and make 
vow of obedience, as well to the body of the society 
as to the superiors; which vows of association, as 
also of stability in the said society, and of obedience, 
I promise to keep inviolably all my lifetime/' 

The Venerable de La Salle had now constituted 
his disciples into a religious body, as far as was 
possible. Again the thought of his insufficiency re- 
curred, and he determined to resign the position of 
general. His Brothers had just made vow to obey 
the superior who would be named by the institute, 
but he said that he was simply the originator of 
the new society ; now that its existence was secured, 



1 36 The Life and Work of 

he could easily give place to another. His good 
opinion of the Brothers also led him to believe that 
his will in this respect would be their pleasure ; he 
therefore called them together, and having disclosed 
his reasons, humbly besought them to accept his 
resignation, and to proceed to an election. His 
children could not refuse to listen ; they accord- 
ingly proceeded to an election, and the name of Jean 
Baptist de La Saile was unanimously given as that 
of the coming general. Pained at the result, and 
tearing that human motives had some share in 
the matter, he addressed them anew, adding many 
reasons why he ought not to be elected, which only 
his humility could suggest. He asked them to pass 
a half hour in prayer before taking the second vote. 
The Brothers were too good not to allow their 
father the pleasure of reviling himself by his 
humble statements of his supposed incapacity, his 
lack of virtue, and the like; but they were too 
wise to deprive themselves of such a director, and 
the second vote gave the same result as the first. 
Not discouraged, though deeply grieved, the Vener- 
ble de La Salle, like Gideon of old, asked another 
proof that he was really to be the leader of the body 
that was to fight ignorance and vice, and for the 
third time his name was unanimously pronounced 
as that of the father, more than the superior, of the 
Brothers of the Christian Schools. Seeing no other 
alternative, he submitted ; yet his convictions were 
that the society should be governed by a Brother, 
and not by an ecclesiastic. To prevent the con- 
sequences that might afterward result from this 



The Ven, y, B. De La Salle. 137 

election, he requested the twelve Brothers to sign 
the following document: 

** We, the undersigned, Nicholas Vuyart, Gabriel 
Drolin, etc., after having associated ourselves with 
M. J. B. de La Salle, priest, to keep gratuitous schools 
according to the vows made the day before yester- 
day, acknowledge that, in consequence of these 
vows and of the association we have contracted, 
w^e have chosen M. J. B. de La Salle for superior, to 
whom we promise entire obedience and submission, 
as also to those who will be given us by him as supe- 
riors. We also declare that we do not intend that 
the present election shall be taken as a precedent in 
the future, it being our intention that after M. J. B. 
de La Salle there shall never be among us, nor shall 
there be chosen for superior, any priest or any per- 
son who has received sacred orders ; that we will 
have and will admit no superior who will not be 
associated with us, and who will not have made 
vows such as we have pronounced, and as will be 
made by those who will be associated with us here- 
after. 

" Done at Vaugirard, June 7th, 1694." 

The Venerable Founder next sent these twelve 
chosen Brothers into different communities, where 
they became shining lights, giving bright examples 
to all who surrounded them. 

The Brothers had shown their appreciation of 
their Founder's virtues by refusing to accept his 
resignation. Herein they were only asserting that 
their estimation of his worth equalled that placed 
upon it b}' learned and pious ecclesiastics. 



T38 The Life and Work of 

M. de La Salle's influence could not be reserved 
for the Brothers alone. The brilliancy of his vir- 
tues shone in every direction. Worth}^ ecclesiastics 
came to make retreats in the novitiate of this great 
master of the spiritual life. Hardened sinners were 
sent to him, that he might bestow upon them the 
care that his charity would suggest, and that he 
might apply the remedy their spiritual ailments 
demanded. He effected conversions where all hopes 
had been abandoned, and which could be considered 
as nothing less than so many miracles of divine 
grace. While laboring thus zealously, he was 
suffering most cruel physical pain, which he could 
but partially disguise. Among other trials he was 
greatly afflicted with rheumatic pains, that he had 
brought upon himself, the physician said, by sleep- 
ing on the bare floor. A severe and somewhat 
curious prescription was given him. He was told to 
stretch himself upon supports, and to allow the 
flame from a sort of pungent seed to penetrate the 
afflicted parts. He cheerfully submitted, and, like 
another Lawrence, stretched himself upon the 
instrument of torture. Two pans filled with burn- 
ing wood were placed beneath him, and the berries 
or seed thrown into them. For several days in 
succession he submitted to this painful remedy, 
until he found relief. 

When his cure was sufficiently determined to allow 
him to walkabout, he accepted the invitation given 
him to spend some time in the retreat known as 
Parmenie, where a holy nun named Sister Louise was 
the object of much edification. No sooner had these 



fhe Ven, y. B. De La Salle. 139 

two servants of God met than they understood 
each other. '* We need not be surprised/' says F. 
Lucard, " that the Venerable should have found a 
simple village girl who understood more of his 
character than the most distinguished among his 
clerical friends/* Sister Louise listened with great 
interest to the conversation of her newly-acquired 
friend, whose humility made him take pleasure in 
consulting one who desired only to hear his advice. 
The Abbe de Saleon, who had made known this good 
religious to the Venerable, felt that those two souls 
would mutually appreciate each other's virtue. It 
was in the quiet home of this worthy abbe that M. 
de La Salle spent the hours of repose which he so 
much needed. But who was this pious woman ? 

Sister Louise had been a shepherd girl. As she 
grew up in innocence, attending her flocks, grace 
increased in her soul. It happened that, near by the 
field in which her flocks grazed, were the ruins of an 
old chapel. Thither went she daily to pray. In the 
soUtude of the place, her imagination frequently 
occupied itself in reconstructing the decayed splen- 
dors of the building, and peopling it once again with 
devout pilgrims. The desire grew upon her to ac- 
complish the good work. She obtained permission 
from the proper authorities to beg for the requisite 
funds, and finally succeeded in rebuilding the chapel. 
Selecting two pious ladies to assist her, she devoted 
the remainder of her life to the service of the 
pilgrims who flocked thither to be refreshed by 
prayer, or to obtain some signal favor from heaven. 
But in the performance of this pious work she 



140 The Life and Work of 

grew in wisdom as well as in grace. Persons from 
far and near came to consult her on their spiritual 
welfare, and always left her presence enlightened 
and fortified. This was why the Abb6 Saleon urged 
upon the Venerable de La Salle to recruit his 
strength at Parmenie. 

As the Venerable de La Salle often walked along 
the beaten paths of his chosen retreat, he could see 
in the distance the cliff upon which was built the 
Grande Chartreuse, and he could not help thinking 
how calm and quiet would be his life, if he did but 
retire to this beautiful spot. Had not St. Bruno, a 
canon of Rheims, chosen this retreat as his own ; 
and could he desire any better model than one who 
had given such renown to his cathedral chapter ? 
Such thoughts gave him great uneasiness of mind. 
He believed that his presence created enemies for 
his disciples, where they might otherwise have only 
friends ; but an interior voice told him that his 
vocation was not to abandon the task that Provi- 
dence had given him, but rather to persevere in it 
till death, as he had vowed. Sister Louise, when 
consulted on the subject, answered humbly but 
promptly : " You must not think of any such 
change. God wishes you to persevere as you are, 
and to unite in your life the difficult but necessary 
duties of Martha and Mary.*' * The Venerable, 
renewed in courage, hastened to his beloved dis- 
ciples who greatly needed him. Another difficulty 
presented itself M. Baudrand, through motives 
of economy, wished to transfer the Brothers from 

* Ayma, ** Vie du Ven. de La Salle," pp. 158, 159. 



The Ven, J. B, De La Salle. 141 

their residence to an old and insalubrious dwelling. 
M. de La Salle was obliged to refuse his consent, 
and thus found himself again in opposition to one 
who, with some reason, had considered himself a 
benefactor. 

Seeing that he could not succeed by argument, 
M. Baudrand had recourse to means which he con- 
sidered more likely to be effective : he therefore 
retained the Brothers' stipend during six months, 
and even refused to renew the lease of the house then 
occupied. "^ After consultation with M. Lechasier, 
of St. Sulpice, the Venerable Founder determined to 
take the responsibility of the rent upon himself, and 
thus remove the difficulties, as far as M. Baudrand 
was concerned. Moreover, he had made so favorable 
an impression upon the proprietor of the house, that 
neither written agreement nor security was required. 
The Venerable's word was accepted ; but, in return, 
says Abbe de Montis, he had to suffer from the ill- 
will of M. Baudrand, who became more irritated.f 

Having settled this difficulty, he determined to 
make a visitation of his communities. He had 
already given some general rules, the observance of 
which he wished to examine. He also hoped, by 
the experience that he would thus acquire, to be 
in a better condition to establish such fixed regu- 
lations as would tend to the preservation and de- 
velopment of his society. Wherever he went he 

■'It was on Rue Princesse. 

t ^* Vie de M. de La Salle,'' p. 83. 
It will interest our readers to know that M. de Montis, when he pre- 
pared this ** Life '' was blind, and dictated the subject-matter to an 
amanuensis. 



142 The Life and Work of 

was received with the utmost expressions of delight. 
His children vied as to who would show him the 
greatest marks of submission and love. Each one 
had some special word of welcome to pronounce, 
some counsel to ask, some assurance to give, that 
he was not forgotten, and that, on the contrary, his 
name was on every lip, his love in every heart. 

How consoled the Venerable Founder must have 
been, seeing at every step the blessings God had 
been pleased to shower upon his institute! Not a 
single complaint came to lessen his joy. Shielded 
by the faithful observance of their rules, the 
Brothers everywhere found themselves honored and 
protected. What zeal, patience, devotedness, what 
lights, had been necessary for the pious Founder 
to give such an impulse to his society since 1684 ! 
Under his wise but firm government the Brothers 
each day realized the happiness of their vocation. 
Speaking of this period in the history of the insti- 
tute, Pere Garreau says : '* Up to this time the 
observances that had been introduced among the 
Brothers had not the force of law. Fervor rather 
than authority had secured their fulfilment T 

'* Returning from his visitations,'' relates Pere 
Maillefer, 'Vthe Venerable de La Salle met a young 
gentleman whose countenance and general expres- 
sion pleased him very much. Addressing him in 
Latin, he asked the young man who he was, and 
whither he was going. In reply, the youthful 
traveller said, in the same tongue, that he was from 
Holland, and was on his way to Paris, where he in- 
tended to seek his fortune. As the conversation 



The Ven. J. B. De La Salle. 143 

proceeded, M. de La Salle perceived with sorrow 
that his companion was a victim of the Calvinistic 
heresy. He so far won the confidence of the 
young gentleman, that they agreed to finish the 
journey together. M. de La Salle paid all ex- 
penses on the way. As the young man had no 
fixed place of residence, M. de La Salle offered him 
a safe harbor, for the time being, at Vaugirard. 
There he endeavored to bring his guest to a sense 
of his errors ; but, for a time, his efforts were vain. 
Having exhausted arguments, he had recourse to 
prayer and mortification, and in the course of a' few 
weeks had the happiness of presenting the young 
man for baptism to the pastor of Vaugirard. Upon 
examining him, the father found him thoroughly 
instructed. After some delay in the capital, the con- 
vert returned to his home, bringing with him the 
warmest affection for his protector. Upon learn- 
ing of his conversion, his parents and friends 
expressed great dissatisfaction ; but they were no 
more able to resist his arguments, supported by 
fervent prayer, than he had been able to refuse 
his assent to the words of M. de La Salle.'' What 
was the Venerable's delight upon learning that his 
young neophyte not only persevered in his own 
good disposition, but had, moreover, brought his 
parents and friends into the bosom of the one, holy^ 
CathoHc and Apostolic Church ! Thus did this holy 
man do good wherever he went. His great mind, that 
could accommodate itself to the limited intelligence 
of children, was, at the same time, adequate to 
command the respect of trained intellectual athletes. 



144 ^^^ Ltf^ ^'^^ Work of 

The Venerable de La Salle availed himself of the 
leisure at his command at Vaugirard, to revise the 
rules of his infant society. According to the holy 
practice of all the saints, founders of religious 
orders, he had recourse to prayer.* He implored 
the lights of the Holy Ghost, and begged the 
assistance of his powerful protectress, the Mother 
of God.f To this he added the most extraordinary 
fasts and macerations,:}: that heaven might inspire 
him with the proper spirit. When the fruits of his 
vigils and his fasts were complete, he submitted 
them to the Brothers assembled in annual retreat. 
** He had them publicly read, and each one was free 
to make his remarks. Availing themselves of this 
privilege, some Brothers complained of the extreme 
severity of certain chapters. The Venerable relig- 
ious legislator replied that he would submit the 
points in question to the decision of three distin- 
guished spiritual directors, then well known in 
Paris. The Brothers accepted this pro{X)sition. 
Thus the rules were prepared, such as they exist 
at the present day.'' § 

The Venerable de La Salle met with a severe loss 
for his society at this time, in the person of Mgr. 
de Harlay, who was suddenly called away by a 
stroke of apoplexy. There was a general desire 
expressed that the polished and pious F6nelon 
should succeed him. Had this taken place, the 
Venerable, who already, at St. Sulpice, had known 
the author of '' Letters on the Education of Daugh- 

• F. Lucard, p. 80. f Vol. i, p. 288 ; ibid., p. 289. 

X P. Montis, p. 84. } Maillefer, ** Vie M. de La SaUe," pp. 76, 77, 



The Ven. y. B. De La Salle. 145 

ters," would have had a warm friend and powerful 
protector ; but the adviser of Madame de Maintenon 
had already been raised to the See of Cambrai, and 
Mgr. de Noailles, Bishop of Chalons sur Marne, 
was selected as incumbent for the capital. Though 
Mgr. de Harlay had directed the affairs of the arch- 
diocese with great abihty, his natural kindness of 
heart had led him to be too lenient in some mat- 
ters : these Mgr. de Noailles felt obliged to correct. 
During this change of pastors the Venerable de La 
Salle took no part in the discussions which were 
held as to the respective merits of candidates. His 
only desire was to see a worthy successor to Mgr. 
de Harlay, and such he hoped would be found in 
Louis Antoine de Noailles. 

*' At this time the Abbe de La Salle and his insti- 
tute enjoyed comparative tranquillity; but in 1696 
contradictions were renewed. Cardinal de Noailles 
applied himself to correct certain abuses ; among 
others the multiplicity of private chapels.'' * ** Not 
only every community, but every person of suffi- 
cient means, endeavored to have a private chapel, 
in which the holy sacrifice might be offered up ; so 
that the parish churches were almost deserted, 01 
at least only the middle and lower classes assisted 
at the public services. Those who should have^ 
been present, to give good example by their influ-j 
ence, were absent. Divine service should be offered 
publicly, that no irregularities may creep in, and 
that all the parishioners, assembled under the eye 

* ** Vie de M. de La Salle," by a Member of the University, p. 68. 

7 



146 The Life and Work of 

of their pastor, may encourage one another, and 
receive the advice which the Church may deem 
necessary to give.'' ^ Mgr. de Noailles, therefore, 
interdicted the continuance of these private chapels. 
** In his novitiate of Vaugirard, the Venerable, to 
celebrate Mass, was obliged to take his novices to 
the next house, in which a wealthy friend gave him 
the use of his private altar. This chapel was inter- 
dicted like the others, and M. de La Salle found 
himself constrained to take his disciples to the 
parochial church, which was at a great distance, 
and without beaten paths in winter. Besides, the 
populace crowded into Paris early ia the morning, 
on festivals ; and the indecent and worldly spect- 
acles which met the eyes of the young Brothers or 
postulants, could have no other than a very per- 
nicious effect upon them. This last consideration 
made a deep impression upon the holy man: he 
spoke to the archbishop, who, hearing his reason, 
and being already favorably disposed toward his 
society, gave him the desired dispensation to cele- 
brate Mass, and to give benediction of the Most 
Blessed Sacrament, in his novitiate. Moreover, he 
gave him a written renewal of the verbal approba- 
tion with which Mgr. de Harlay had favored his 
community." t The Venerable de La Salle imme- 
diately erected a modest chapel in the most respect- 
able part of the house ; he personally helped to carry 
the materials to construct the various parts of the 
altar ; but ** the joy which the Brothers and their 
Founder felt at the concession which had been made 

* Ravelet, pp. 213, 214. 

t "Vie de M. de La Salle," by a Member of the University, pp. 68,69. 



The Ven. J. B. De La Salle, 147 

them, was soon disturbed by the efforts of the pas- 
tor of Vaugirard, hitherto a warm friend of M. de La 
Salle, to oblige them to assist at the public services. 
* I can never consent,* said he, ' to be separated from 
religious who are so great a source of edification 
for my parish.' **^ The Venerable de La Salle, who 
always sought to deserve the blessing promised to 
the meek, endeavored to reason with the good pas- 
tor, and as a compromise, says Abbe de Montis, 
*' promised that he and his community would go 
the first Thursday of each month, and sing a solemn 
Mass in honor of the Most Blessed Sacrament/'f 
After some time a complete understanding was 
arrived at, and the curate of Vaugirard admitted 
that the Venerable de La Salle was right in insisting 
t lat his children should be kept in the solitude and 
utreat so strongly urged upon all novices by Clem- 
ei?t VIIL The young Brothers also went to the 
ps,rochial church on the feast of St. Lambert, the 
patron of the parish. The best proof that these two 
ecclesiastics were in harmony, is found in the fact 
that, at the request of the Venerable de La Salle, 
Mgr. de Noailles deputed the pastor of Vaugirard 
to bless the new chapel. It was opened March 
27th, 1697.:}: 

*' It is not easy to imagine how the Venerable de 
La Salle could meet the expenses connected with 
such works of charity and zeal. It is true that he 
found several pious and wealthy persons whose 
pleasure it was to assist him, yet he was so reserved 
about his personal wants that only such as could 

* F. Lucard, p. 82. f De Montis, p. 90, % F. Lucard, p. S3. 



148 The Life and Work of 

not be concealed came to the knowledge of his 
patrons. Some of the Brothers, however, who did 
not think it necessary to be as mortified as their 
Founder, occasionally made known the extreme 
poverty of their establishment; and thus they were 
provided with the few comforts of life which were 
allowed them. M. de La Salle, who placed all his 
confidence in Providence, rejected such diffidence, 
and preferred his state of poverty to all the abun- 
dance of the earth. Nevertheless, God, who always 
cares for those who rely upon Him, did not permit 
him to be deprived of the merit of his faith, or his 
hope to be confounded ; for, while he was in extreme 
indigence, he found a powerful ally in the person of 
M. de la Ch6tardie, who had succeeded M. Baudrand 
as parish priest of St. Sulpice. This new pastor's 
first care was to determine the condition of the poor 
in his parish : how could the Venerable Founder and 
his children escape when such a census was taken ? 
M. de La Chetardie knew the great utility of the 
society, and desired to perpetuate the good work. 
He visited the schools, which he found filled to re- 
pletion ; he admired the order and regularity reign- 
ing therein ; everything was done in the most satis- 
factory manner. From that moment the Brothers 
and their labors were the special objects of the 
new pastor's solicitude. He was so attentive to his 
duty in this respect, that he seemed to place it first 
among his pleasures, and everywhere among his 
obligations. Each month he visited the schools, 
examined the pupils, distributed recompenses to the 
deserving, and encouraged the Brothers by every 



The Ven, J. B. De La Salle. 149 

means in his power. Thus a close friendship was 
established between the pastor and the Venerable 
de La Salle, — a friendship which produced imme- 
diate results in favor of the new institute." ^ 

"The reputation of the society continued to spread 
with such rapidity/' says an anon37mous biographer,f 
that, though poverty was its chief riches, and morti- 
fication its only pleasure, the number of novices 
became so considerable, that Vaugirard could not 
accommodate them/' 

*^M. de La Chetardie determined to transfer the 
novitiate to his parish, that he might have their good 
example continually before him. M. de La Salle, 
who referred all things to God, believed that this 
change was in the order of His designs, and might 
contribute to His greater honor. He acceded to 
the wishes of the pastor of St Sulpice, though he 
had not yet been told whence would come the large 
amount required to meet the expenses of a new 
establishment. M. de La Chetardie agreed to 
furnish all. He secured a spacious dwelling, which, 
in 1638, had served as a convent for the Sisters of 
Notre Dame des Vertus, When all was ready, the 
novices were transferred to their new and more 
commodious home. It was never seen better than 
on that occasion how simply and economically the 
Venerable and his children had lived. The furni- 
ture was so common and so small in quantity, that 
it was difficult to conceive how so many persons had 
managed to do with so little. The pastor generally 

* P^re Maillefer, " Vie de M. de La Salle,'' pp. 83, 84. 

t A Member of the University, '' Vie de M. de La Salle/' p. 70. 



tgo The Life and Work of 

supplied what was wanting, and added to the joy of 
the occasion by enabling M. de La Salle to open a 
beautiful chapel. In the house there was an oratory, 
which for years had not served its original purpose. 
It was small, but means were found to add an ad- 
joining apartment. When all was prepared, M. de 
La Salle requested the Bishop of Chartres, who was 
then in Paris, to bless the new chapel. It was 
dedicated to St. Cassian^ This saint was a school- 
master ; he had refused to worship the gods of the 
pagans, and in consequence was condemned to be 
stabbed to death by his pupils with their styluses 
and knives. It will easily be perceived why the 
Venerable de La Salle selected the saint as one of 
the patrons of his society.*'^ 

In the same year two schools were opened through 
the zealous efforts of M. de La Chetardie : one in 
Rue Placide ; the other, in Rue des Fosses — Mon- 
sieur-le- Prince. The first was no sooner started 
than it was so crowded with children of all classes, 
that the second was needed. Six Brothers were un- 
able to meet the requirements of the former, which 
continued to prosper. The projectors of the second 
patronized it liberally ; but after their death, sub- 
scriptions failing, it was closed. M. de le Ch6tardie 
not only visited the schools himself, he also took 
pride in bringing others to be witnesses of the regu- 
larity, peace and application that reigned in them. 
Nor would he content himself on such occasions 
with merely looking on ; he examined the pupils ; he 
spoke words of encouragement to them ; he dilated 

* P^re Maillefer, pp. 84, 85. 



The Ven, J. B. De La Salle. 1 5 1 

upon the great good the Brothers were doing. 
Once he took Madame Voisin, a great patroness of 
the school, to see it working. She was struck with 
the discipHne of the classes ; she noticed the beam- 
ing countenances of the children ; she observed 
the alacrity and content with which the Brothers 
labored to instruct them. The good pastor saw 
how touched she was with all she witnessed. He, 
too, became moved, and exclaimed to the Venerable 
Founder : '' Ah ! M. de La Salle, what a great 
work ! Where would all these children be to-day 
if they were not gathered together in this place? 
We would see them roaming the streets, corrupting 
one another, and living in ignorance of ever}^ prin- 
ciple of morality and religion. What a work !** said 
he with still greater emotion. *^ What an admirable 
work!'* Is not this the feeling of every pastor 
visiting his parochial school, when it is under the 
management of religious teachers, be they Christian 
Brothers or others with a kindred object ? As for 
Madame Voisin, that visit formed an epoch in her 
life. She never forgot it. Ever after, she took the 
deepest interest in the school ; she used to watch 
the children walking in procession to the parish 
Church ; and when a drought occurred some time 
subsequently, she had a small loaf of bread distrib- 
uted to each child in the school. 

But to have friends is also to have enemies. 
Therefore, it is not to be expected that so much 
good was to continue without opposition. M. 
Compagnon had not forgotten the humiliation to 
which his intrigues had exposed him. No longer 



i^i The Life and Work of 

able to blacken the character of M. de La Salle with 
the clergy, he addressed himself to the writing- 
masters, and gave them to understand that the Broth- 
ers were not only powerful^ but dangerous rivals, 
who, if left unmolested, would soon destroy their 
profession. He suggested that, since the Brothers 
took children who were not poor, they could not 
claim the privileges attached to " charity schools/* 

These writing-masters — maitres-ecrivains — were a 
guild of teachers, who pretended to have the ex- 
clusive privilege of teaching writing. They had 
their special rules, which had been approved. These 
rules exacted a very high standard of proficiency 
in the branches the members were to teach, and 
this fact gave them influence. But the day of their 
usefulness had long past ; they had grown into an 
insolent monopoly. Seeing that the Brothers taught 
the same branches as they, and with great success, 
they naturally looked upon them as rivals who 
should, at any cost, be removed. The establish- 
ments so far founded by the Venerable de La 5alle 
in Paris were strictly parish schools, and did not 
depend upon the city authorities ; moreover, they 
were open to all, rich or poor, who wished to avail 
themselves of the advantages they offered. 

The writing-masters received M. Compagnon's 
suggestions with marked satisfaction. Throwing 
aside the mask of friendship or neutrality they had 
hitherto worn, they assailed the school in Rue du 
Bac, chased the scholars, and seized the school 
furniture, which they triumphantly carried away. 
Far from blaming them, the officer to whom 



The Ven, J. B, De La Salle. 153 

appeal was made, gave a verdict in their favor. 
But the **iron will" which M. Droz, of the French 
Academy, says was the distinctive feature of 
xM. de La Salle, here manifested itself Strong, 
because he had justice on his side, and encouraged 
by M. de La Chetardie, he appealed to parhament. 
On the eve of the day upon which his argument 
was to be heard, the Venerable, with his disciples, 
made a pilgrimage to one of the most venerated 
sanctuaries of the Most Blessed Virgin, to solicit 
the powerful protection of this benign Queen. 
The day following, the case was heard. Unwilling 
to risk the result in other hands, and free from all 
false modesty, the Venerable de La Salle pleaded 
himself, and with such eloquence and logic, that 
the decision of the subordinate officer was reversed. 
The Brothers were allowed to proceed in their good 
work. Then, as later, it might be said of them 
what Ravelet has written: ^^They asked no mono- 
poly, not even that of doing good,'* but they ex- 
pected to be left in the peaceful pursuit of a work 
which had charity and justice in its favor. 

The success which attended the new school of 
St. Placide, again aroused the ire of the writing- 
masters ; they caused its classes to be closed for 
three months. Again the man of peace and good- 
will to all is compelled to go to court. When the day 
of trial came, he was barely able to leave his sick- 
room to plead the cause so dear to his heart. The im- 
portance of the case gave him unexpected strength ; 
before his logic and earnestness the quibbles of 
the writing-masters vanished. Again opened, the 



i§4 'i^he Life and Work of 

school became, more than ever, the favorite resort 
of M. de La Ch6tardie, who took pleasure in bring- 
ing with him the many eminent personages whom 
he had interested in the enterprise. 

Madame de Maintenon could not have been an 
Uninterested witness of all these proceedings. Her 
charity wsls too far-seeing for them to escape her 
notice. We even have reason to believe " that she 
induced Louis XI V to interest himself in the schools 
taught by the new society.'* " The Brothers,*' says 
F. Lucard, "• were frequently the object of this great 
king's generosity." ^ 

The training-school established by the Venerable 
de La Salle had obtained but partial success. He 
ardently desired to establish one on a firmer basis. 
Soon the opportunity presented itself. Struck by 
the excellent results obtained by the disciples of 
M. de La Salle, the pastor of St. Hippolyte desired 
to secure their services. After consultation with 
the Founder, it was agreed to establish a training- 
school in this parish. One of the pastor's friends 
gave him a suitable house ; another offered an annual 
sum with which to support the students ; other 
well-disposed persons wished to join in the good 
work ; the pastor agreed to pay the teachers, and to 
procure the furniture. The normal-school was soon 
opened. The Venerable Founder was resolved to 
regulate it according to the dictates of his genius. 
Now that he could have it under his own super- 
vision, he was going to make it conform to the ideal 
in his mind. The school was the conception of his 

* F. Lucard, "Vie de M. de La Salle," p. 89. 



The Ven. J. B, De La Salle, 155 

brain ; only he could realize the design he had 
formed. He began with basing the admission of 
the young men upon a severe examination. None 
were received except such as came to him with the 
approbation of their pastors, with acquired habits of 
order, and possessed of sufficient mental capacity."^ 
Writing on the subject, the originator said : *' The 
house which these young men occupy is called a 
seminary. They remain a certain number of years, 
till they have acquired not only piety, but likewise 
the instruction needed for their employment. They 
are instructed and fed, and their washing is furnished 
gratuitously. Afterward they are sent into villages 
or districts, where they act as teachers. When they 
are thus placed, they have no longer any relations 
with the institute, save such as friendship or grati- 
tude may suggest. Nevertheless, they are received 
to make retreats. Their dress is the same as that 
usually worn in society, but it is black, and they 
are distinguished from other laymen by the rabat, 
and their hair is somewhat shorter." f A parochial 
school was attached to this establishment, that the 
poor might not be deprived of the advantages of 
religious education. The normal students taught 
in this parochial school, under the supervision of 
an experienced Brother, and thus prepared them- 
selves for their future labors. 

It will be surprising to many to learn that the 
programme of obligatory studies prepared by M. 
de La Salle, in 1697, is equal in extent to that pro- 

* F. Lucard, ''Vie de M. de La Salle,'^ p. 89. 
t Arch, of the Regime. 



156 The Life and Work of 

mulgated as law by France, in 185 1. But such is 
the fact ; we are not inventing, we are only narrat- 
ing. Both are matters of history ; let us compare 
them. The course of 185 1 runs as follows : religious 
and moral instruction^ reading, writing, elements of 
the French language, arithmetic, system of legal 
weights and measures, and religious music. This 
course, coming a century and a half after that of 
1697, has had the experience of all that time to 
perfect it, and yet it has not added a single item to 
that laid down by the Venerable de La Salle for 
his normal-school of St. Hippolyte. It included : 
catechism, reading, writing (which in those days 
included orthography, elements of the French lan- 
guage, and the knowledge of accounts), arithmetic, 
the system of weights and measures in use, and, 
finally, plain chant. The Venerable de La Salle took 
special pride in this last branch, and with no slight 
pleasure did he write to a friend : " The students 
in our seminary learn to sing perfectly.*' St. Paul's, 
London, Trinity Church and the Paulist Fathers in 
New York, and many others, who have done well in 
establishing ecclesiastical singing-schools, are repeal- 
ing what was a success nearly two hundred years 
ago. We admire their success ; we may rest as- 
sured that those conducted by La Salle were equally 
admirable. He was not given to boasting, and 
he was a good judge ; for we have seen that his own 
musical tastes had been cultivated in his younger 
days. The pupil and successor of M. Bourdoise, 
a most competent person to form an opinion on the 
subject, bears this testimony to the young men 



The Ven. y. B. De La Salle. 157 

formed for teachers : — ** M. de La Salle/* he writes, 
" has been so good as to educate four young men 
for me. They went forth from him so well formed 
and so zealous, that, if they had received proper 
cncouragem.ent, and the good dispositions with 
which he inspired them had been cultivated, they 
iTiijjht have established a community that would 
have proved most useful in the provinces/' "^ We 
can form some conception of the proficiency of these 
young men when we remember that they attended 
the normal-school, not for a few months, or even a 
single year, — as is so frequently the case in modern 
institutions bearing the name, — but for years ; and 
the Venerable Founder, when speaking on the sub- 
ject, seems to think even that not sufficient time : 
" The students,'* he says, "remain there but a few 
years.'* * The parochial schools taught by the 
Brothers reached a proportionately elevated stand- 
ard. Ravelet says of them, some years later: 
" Boys who had spent two or three years with the 
Brothers of 1720, were able to prepare a deed, or 
to draw up a contract. How many college graduates 
of the present day can do as much f " The age was not 
accustomed to see educational work so thoroughl}- 
and efficiently done. La Salle was already spoken 
of as one of the greatest educators in France. His 
schools attracted the attention of princes in Church 
and State. One of the greatest marks of the esteem 
in which he was held, is furnished in the history of 
the establishment of his first boarding-school. 

* Letter of the Director of St. Nicholas- des-Chardonnet to Brother 
Barth^lemy. t '* Les Sieves rCy de^neurent que quelques annees.^* 

MS. in Arch, of the Regime. 



158 Tike Life and Work of 



CHAPTER V. 

The Venerable's Friends. — Louis XIV and the Irish Exiles. — M. de La 
Salle opens a Boarding-School. — Gratitude of James II. — Memorial of 
the Clergy of Chartres to their Bishop. — Religious Orders true Repub- 
lics. — Mgr. des Marais and the Jansenists. — The Venerable visits his 
Communities. — His Reception in Chartres. — The Bishop offers to 
secure Letters-Patent for the Society. — The Venerable declines. -- His 
Forethought. — He changes the Method of teaching Reading. — Morti- 
fications practised by the Brothers in Chartres. 

That which was an object of admiration to others 
seemed to La Salle something ordinary. He and 
his Brothers had only done their duty. That fact 
interested him most. He did as he knew how : he 
could not have done otherwise. It is ever so with 
genius. It embodies an idea in a poem or in action ; 
the world applauds ; it recognizes a new power upon 
earth ; but the genius is surprised ; he did not mean 
to be great, he only did as it was given him to do ; 
if he possesses virtue and modesty, he shrinks from 
the fame that is thrust upon him. So it was with 
La Salle. He found himself the centre of an ever- 
widening circle of admiration, and it brought him 
confusion. But the greater the efforts made by him 
to remain hidden from the world and its praises, 
the higher he found himself in the estimation of 
his ecclesiastical superiors, and of all appreciative 
persons who learned of his virtues, as a priest, a 
spiritual director, and an educator. M. de La Che- 
tardie, who had so many opportunities to judge of 



The Ven, J. B. De La Salle. 159 

his worth, never tired speaking of him to his friends. 
An opportunity presented itself in which he was 
enabled to give M. de La Salle an introduction and 
a recommendation that were of great service to the 
institute. One of the greatest glories of the reign 
of Louis XIV is the princely manner in which he 
treated the exiled king, James II, after the battle of 
the Boyne. Among those who followed the dethron- 
ed king into his retreat were several noblemen, who 
sought in Catholic France that freedom of religious 
worship they were deprived of in their native land, 
and who preferred to cling to the fallen fortunes of 
their rightful sovereign, rather than sacrifice their 
faith for the favor of the new ruler. Their children 
were to be provided for. The occasion sufficed to 
suggest to Louis XIV the course to pursue. He 
acted with all the delicacy that was inherent in his 
noble nature. The daughters he placed in the con- 
vent of the Nuns of St. Thomas. He might have 
given the sons positions in the army, but this 
would have been only partially to do his duty by 
them. They were in a strange country, unacquainted 
with its habits and manners, and only imperfectly, 
if at all, knowing its language. They required to 
be polished and instructed, and made presentable 
to society and the court. But who is competent 
to fulfil this important task in a manner worthy 
of France and royalty ? These fifty youths must be 
placed in the hands of none but the best educators 
in the land. The king consults Cardinal de Noailles 
upon the selection ; the cardinal makes inquiries ; 
he especially relies upon M. de La Chetardie to find 



i6o The Life arid Work of 

the proper persons. " The pastor of St. Sulpice," 
says Ravelet, '* knew no one who could better as- 
sume the responsibility of educating these youths 
than M. de La Salle. The servant of God was 
therefore, requested to admit them into his own 
house, and the Venerable, who never refused to 
accomplish the good presented to his zeal, hastened 
to open a boarding-school.'* This act did honor 
to the judgment of M. de La Chetardie, at the same 
time that it did honor to La Salle. '' It was," says 
Garreau, '*a mark of confidence that did great honor 
to the venerable man; it was rendering generous 
testimony to the regularity that reigned in his 
seminary." "^ It was another occasion for doing a 
great good, and promoting the glory of God : for this 
reason it was not to be let slip. Accordingly, La 
Salle received these hopeful young Irishmen with 
joy, and cared for them with a truly fatherly love, f 
It is of the utmost importance to understand that in 
the present instance the man of God was sacrific- 
ing no jot or tittle of principle in taking charge of 
these young men. '' The object pursued by the In- 
stitute of the Brothers of the Christian Schools," 
says a competent authority on this point, '' was not 
exclusively the direction of free schools. The zeal- 
ous Founder already had occasion to make known 
his real intentions in regard to this matter ; he had 
created a preparatory novitiate ; he had estabhshed 
four normal-schools, and he had directed the school 
of technology of St. Sulpice.":}: The proposition 



* P^re Garreau, vol. ii, pp. 19, 20. t P. Jos. Aloys Krebs, 

<«Leben," § 105. X In the narrative we have deemed proper to 

pursue, this school of technology is mentioned later. 



The Ven, j, B. De La Salle. i6l 

made by the archbishop was for him an invitation 
from Providence to walk in the logical and sure path 
that he had traced out for himself, in order to dif- 
fuse the benefits of a Christian education among a 
greater number of families. As soon as Notre-Da me- 
des-Vertus was prepared for their accommodation, 
Louis XIV sent these noble strangers to him, re- 
commending them to his solicitude."^ There was 
no need of such a recommendation. It sufficed 
that La Salle had consented to take charge of them* 
All the rest would follow. With him, to know his 
duty was to perform it at every risk ; and therefore 
Maillefer, a relative of the Venerable, and intimately 
acquainted with the history of this important move- 
ment in his life, tells us : '* He lodged these young 
gentlemen in his own house, and took particular 
care of their education. He selected Brothers to watch 
over them, and to give the^n all the instruction suited 
to their age and their position in society ^ so that, in a 
short while, they were able to fill the various offices 
to which they were appointed.'* f This is a valuabe 
piece of testimony ; it contradicts a popular version 
given by later biographers, not at all in keeping 
with La Salle's character. By them we are told 
that, not satisfied with intrusting them to any of the 
Brothers, he took sole charge of them himself.;]: 

* "Vie de M. de La Salle," t. i, p. 137, 2™^ edition. t Tbid., p. 89. 

% This is the version of it put in the popular life, in German, by P. 
Jos. Aloys Krebs. His words are : ^^Nicht zufrieden damit, einemeig- 
enen Bruder diese kleine Gemeinde anvertraiit zu haben, wollte er sick 
auch nock selbst mit ihrtr Erziehung beschdftigeny **Leben," drittes 
Buch, 4tes kap., % 105. And the English version, based upon Garreau, 
says : "Through respect for the persons who confided to him these exiles, 
he charged himself, in a great measure, with their education." "Life," 
c. vi, p. 95. 



1 62 The Life and Work of 

To give these fifty youths all the accomplishments 
required, would have absorbed his whole attention. 
And, in the meantime, who would foster the young 
society, and guard its interests ? Under the circum- 
stances, the zealous Founder could in no sense be 
justified in abandoning the care of his order, and 
laying aside so many more urgent and immediate 
duties for the sake of these young strangers. It 
would have been a blot on his character. But we 
are glad to find history rectify the false impression. 
He who was so efficient in moulding competent 
secular teachers, could not have allowed his own 
Brothers to remain incompetent to prepare these 
young men for the posts they were to occupy. His 
educational standard was too elevated to admit of 
any such supposition ; his sense of justice too keen 
to undertake to do anything he felt himself unequal 
to, or to allow others to do the same. 

Under the care of the Brothers the young men 
made rapid progress. M. de La Chetardie frequently 
visited them ; so did Madame de Maintenon and 
the Bishop of Chartres. They spoke to the arch- 
bishop and to the monarch of their advancement 
in studies, of their order and regularity, of the con- 
sideration with which they v/ere cared for, of the 
ability and modesty of the Brothers, and, above all, 
of the saintly life and the various accomplishments 
of La Salle. As the young exiles had made the cause 
of James II their own, he was not indifferent to any- 
thing concerning them. The recitals of Madame 
de Maintenon or of the archbishop interested him. 
No doubt his first intention was not to see them 



The Ven. y. B, De La Salle. 163 

till their studies were completed, and to find more 
pleasure and satisfaction in the first surprise occa- 
sioned by their polished behavior. A sense of defer- 
ence toward his royal host would suggest as much ; 
it would be a comphment to his judgment to take it 
for granted that they were well cared for. But his 
curiosity is excited by all he hears. He must see 
these admirable educators ; he must behold with his 
own eyes their discipUne, their new methods of 
teaching, and their behavior. So, one day, in com- 
pany with the Archbishop of Paris, he pays a visit 
to Notre-Dame-des-Vertus. History has recorded 
the result of that visit. James was pleased with 
everything. His heart overflowed with joy on 
seeing these )70ung men so well cared for ; he ex- 
pressed his satisfaction at all he beheld ; he con- 
gratulated the Venerable de La Salle upon his 
success, '* and testified his gratitude to him in the 
most honorable terms.'*^ 

What were the methods which the great educator 
used in this, his first boarding-school, and which so 
elicited the admiration of all ? What was the course 
he pursued? We do not know ; and here we must 
reecho the regret of F. Lucard : " It is to be re- 
gretted that the plan of studies then followed by 
the Venerable de La Salle has not been preserved ; 
but we are assured by his earliest biographers 
that he retained for himself the direction both of 
masters and pupils, that he took personal direction 

* ^^ II parut tres-satisfaitj sous tons les rapports et en temoigna, dans 
les termes les plus honorables, sa gratitude ^ au M. de La Sailed *' Vie 
de M. de La Salle," (1733) t. i, p. 369. 



164 The Life and Work of 

of the principal courses, and that he earnestl)^ en- 
deavored to develop the noble qualities with which 
heaven had endowed these students."* It must 
not be supposed that La Salle had opened this 
school simply to meet the present urgency ; nothing 
was further from his idea. Shortly after, he ex- 
tended its benefits to other students. Sometimes 
there were presented to him wild young men, who 
had resisted the influences of the most experienced 
masters. By his gentleness, the penetrating unction 
of his words, and, above all, by the efficacy of his 
own example, he won them to his person, and after- 
ward to the practice of virtue. They returned to 
their families as edifying as they had been previously 
troublesome. Thus it was that he extended to the 
wealthy, as he had previously done, and was still do- 
ing, to the poor, the fruits of his educational genius ; 
and in Notre-Dame-des-Vertus he inaugurated a 
system of education which, later, carried out on a 
large scale at St. Yon, was to produce the most 
beneficial results for society. 

Such successes could not long remain a secret 
from the public. In 1691, Mgr. Godet des Marais 
had most earnestly begged his friend, the Venerable 
Founder, to give him some of his subjects, but the 
scarcity of Brothers prevented the granting of his 
request at the time. Five years later, the pastors 
of his diocese requested him to renew his petition. 
In the letter which they addressed the bishop on 
the subject, they said : ** We have heard that there is 
in Paris a priest distinguished for his piety, who 

* ''Vie de M. de La Salle,*' t. i, p. 137, 2«^« edition. 



The Ven. J. B. De La Salle. 165 

educates young men to become teachers, and tnat 
he succeeds in making them acquire the quaUties 
necessary for their profession. It is an obhgation for 
us to appeal to your lordship, and to humbly solicit 
that you will use your influence, and even your 
means, to procure for Chartres so powerful an 
agency for the amelioration of the morals of the 
people." 

The bishop made known the substance of this 
letter to the Venerable de La Salle. This was 
highly honorable to the servant of God ; but the 
praises of which he thus found himself the recipient, 
made him hesitate before giving a definite answer. 
He wished to consult some of his principal disciples. 
In this he showed a wisdom which can scarcely 
be overrated. To govern men well, they must be 
ruled intelligently. 

The petition presented by the Bishop of Chartres 
was more than usually important. Jansenism was 
then making fearful havoc among the faithful in 
France, and Mgr. des Marais was considered one 
of its most powerful and learned adversaries. That 
he should select the Venerable de La Salle's dis- 
ciples to instruct the youth of his flock, was equi- 
valent to saying that he looked upon their Founder 
as a priest, the purity of whose doctrine enabled 
him to spread healthy instruction among minds so 
easily led astray as are those of children. It was 
also acknowledging that his disciples were actuated 
by the same spirit, since their ministration was to be 
^* a powerful assistance in reforming the morals of 
his people.** The good prelate was certainly taking 



i66 The Life and Work of 

the speediest method for bettering his people. The 
shortest and easiest way to reach them is through 
the children. 

With the unanimous consent of his community, 
he determined to accept the new mission. He 
selected seven Brothers, and they were welcomed 
in the kindest and most enthusiastic manner by the 
clergy and laity of Chartres. ** No one appeared 
more happy than the prelate himself, who received 
the Brothers as so many angels sent him by 
heaven.'' ^ The Sisters of Providence were installed 
in a former convent of Benedictines, and their 
establishment was suitably prepared for the recep- 
tion of the Brothers, under the personal supervision 
of Mgr. des Marais. The Due d'Orleans promised 
a considerable sum for the annual expense of the 
community, and the Canon de Bangy contributed 
largely toward their maintenance. 

Mgr. des Marais did not wish the Brothers, as 
teachers, even to have the trouble of gaining the 
confidence of the parents. He prepared a circular- 
letter, addressed to his faithful people, in which he 
eloquently spoke of the necessity of Christian edu- 
cation. In convincing words he showed that the 
evils from which society suffered are, in great part, 
owing to the imperfect religious training received 
in youth. He presented the Brothers to his dio- 
cesans as men whose life and whose doctrine, he 
doubted not, would be of great service, morally and 
intellectually, to the most cherished portion of his 
charge, the youth of Chartres. In conclusion, he 

* F. Lucard, p. 95. 



The Ven. J. B. De La Salle, 167 

quoted the words of the great and good Jerome : 
*' I know not if there be anything more noble, or 
more agreeable to God, than the education of youth, 
and to water those young plants in the Lord's gar- 
den with the heavenly doctrine of truth and justice." 
As guarantee to such as might doubt the capacity 
of the new teachers, Mgr. des Marais said : " To 
second our pious intentions, we have secured masters 
who are well formed in the art of teaching, and who 
will give our children all necessary instruction." 

On the twelfth of October, 1699, the school was 
opened. The day was one of universal jubilation. 
Parents and children came in large numbers ; the 
former to see, the latter to be instructed by the 
Brothers. Everything that could make the new 
teachers feel at home, was cheerfully done by the 
good people of Chartres. The Brothers, thus en- 
couraged, entered zealously into their new field of 
labor, in which they reaped an immense harvest 
among souls. 

In the visit which M. de La Salle made to all his 
houses in 1700, he stopped for some days at Chartres. 
His first care was to call upon the generous prelate 
who had taken so lively an interest in his disciples. 
Nothing touched the heart of M. de La Salle more 
promptly than the love manifested for his children. 
He also wished to consult this learned bishop upon 
certain matters relating to the institute. 

Their meeting was that of two friends. The 
bishop would allow no formality to his former col- 
lege companion. He regarded him as a companion- 
in-arms, who, in his own modest but noble way, was 



1 68 The Life and Work of 

doing great service in pieserving the purity of 
Catholic doctrine among the rising generations. 
He asked many questions about the society and 
its prospects, and was delighted to learn that the 
former student under M. Tronson and M. Baiiyn 
had been made an instrument in the hands of 
Providence for the realization of so much good. 
The amiability shown by La Salle in conversation, 
the modesty with which he related the success 
with which his work had been blessed, the clearness 
with which he traced his plans for the further 
development of his infant society, — all struck the 
worthy prelate with admiration, bordering upon 
astonishment. ''Upon his features,'* says F. Lu- 
card, '*Mgr. des Marais read the marks of the most 
austere penance ; his dress was so poor that even 
the seraphic St. Francis would not have found it 
too good for a covering. The prelate hid his emo- 
tion under the cloak of familiarity, and playfully 
twitted the former canon of Rheims upon the style 
of his mantle, and the thickness of the soles of his 
shoes ; his hat also called for remark. Before allow- 
ing his visitor to retire, the bishop offered him a new 
mantle, which the servant of God accepted as an 
alms, with many marks of gratitude."* 

Mgr. des Marais had great influence with Louis 
XIV ; he was also Madame de Maintenon's director, 
and his advice was often sought in reference to 
the management of St. Cyr. Bossuet, Fenelon and 
Cardinal de Noailles also consulted him. Louis 
XIV wished to raise him to the cardinalate, but 

♦ " Viede M. de La Salle,*' t. i, pp. 141, 142, 2"^« edition. 



The Ven. J. B. De La Salle. 169 

could not overcome his humility. St. S jT^on says 
that ** his disinterested conduct, his learnivif'-, piety, 
and his rare probity, were to be his only lustre.'* 

This worthy prelate was anxious to show the 
Venerable de La Salle the deep interest he took in 
the future of the new institute, and for this reason 
offered to use his influence with the king to secure 
it letters-patent This was an offer which one 
would suppose the Venerable would have accepted 
with alacrity. He certainly desired to give his 
institute a legal status which would prevent it from 
being attacked at any moment, and which would 
likewise give it a public character it ihrjs far had 
not acquired. In this way he might have silenced 
clamorous rivals, and have shown them, in the words 
of an official document, that their ire was as useless 
as impotent. '' How, then,** ask his biographers, '* are 
we to account for his polite but positive refusal to 
accept what seemed so necessary and so desirable 
a protection?*' If we look more closely into the 
question, we shall find that his deter:*nni< uon was 
marked by that rare foresight, wisdom and discretion 
which are always ingrafted in those who do a lasting 
work. All such undertakings are to be built upon 
the rock which allows no agreeable but useless cover- 
ing of grass or flower, but which withstands the 
storm and defies the waves. Now, the order of La 
Salle differed materially from any other, both in the 
character of its organization, and in the objects of its 
creation. Hitherto schools had been divided into 
two classes: the university for the rich or the ad- 
vanced student, and the parish school for the poor. 

8 



170 The Life and Work of 

It was the aim of the Venerable Founder, m 
establishing his congregation, at the same time 
that he was embracing all classes of the poor, to 
cover a middle ground between the parochial 
school and the university. He was, therefore, 
reasonably to expect opposition. No man can go 
out of the beaten track without meeting with diffi- 
culties. This is in the nature of things. If the 
writing-masters attacked him because he taught 
the poor gratuitously, those whose interests were 
centred in higher education might be his enemies, 
because he trenched upon part of their domain. 
And, as such a twofold opposition would place 
among his opponents persons of rank in Church and 
state, he preferred to establish his work only under 
the protection of Providence, fearing lest, if he 
asked official recognition, clauses might be inserted 
in the approbation which would be opposed in prin- 
ciple to the course he wished to follow. The future 
determined the wisdom of this policy. Relying for 
the time being upon the intrinsic merit of the 
methods pursued by his disciples, and which gave 
success to their teaching, he awaited the hour 
when, under more favorable circumstances, he might 
appeal to the state for the approval of an institute 
which would then be recognized as already having 
done much for society at large. Moreover, his great 
desire was to teach his disciples self-reliance and 
self-government. The future he had marked out 
for them was such that his relations to them as 
an ecclesiastic could not stand for precedent. To 
have their legal recognition established under those 



The Ven. J. B. De La Salle. 171 

relations, might give color of plausibility to any ill- 
designed efforts made to reestablish similar re- 
lations afterward. And this, in our opinion, seems 
to have been the chief motive actuating the far- 
seeing Founder in deferring to take this important 
step. 

Mgr. des Marais held frequent conversations with 
his friend, whom he styled a public benefactor. 
On one occasion he determined to detain the servant 
of God for dinner. To succeed was no easy task. 
He gave orders that the doors by which La Salle 
might retire be closed. In vain did the latter beg 
to be excused ; in vain did he allege the rules and 
customs which had been established among the 
Brothers in this respect : the prelate would hear of 
no other alternative than that of his dining with 
him. He was obliged to receive such warmly- 
pressed hospitality. After the repast a prolonged 
conversation took place, in which M. d'Aubigne, 
Vicar-General, and afterward Archbishop of Rouen, 
participated. The rules and constitution of the 
new society were discussed ; the plans according to 
which it was to be established, formed the matter 
of close study for the bishop, who felt that he owed 
it to his friend to take an abiding interest in all 
that concerned him. The knowledge which the 
prelate had acquired in revising the regulations of 
St. Cyr, gave him experience respecting the rules 
of an order devoted to education. After mature 
reflection he returned the manuscript to the Vener- 
able Founder, without an erasure or mark. He had 
found nothing except what was worthy of the 



172 The Life and Work of 

highest commendation. To the approbations of 
De Harlay and Noailles was added a third, that of 
Mgr. des Marais. 

The good prelate took the liberty of making but 
two critical remarks. The first was, that he did 
not think the method adopted by La Salle, to make 
children learn to read French before having learned to 
read Latin ^ was judicious. He founded his objec- 
tions upon the general practice followed till then. 
It is difficult for one at present to understand any 
other course. Not so at that day. In the 
** Methodical Instruction in Parochial Schools/' 
published in 1669, it was said that '* the children 
must first be taught to read Latin well before 
attempting to read French, for the former lan- 
guage is the basis of the latter.'' Fenelon, as well 
as La Salle, saw through the absurdity of such a 
process ; he ridicules the idea of keeping children 
three or four years in mastering the reading of a 
tongue they understand nothing about. So did the 
gentlemen of Port Royal. They had begun to intro- 
duce the new method into their primary schools; 
but to La Salle it is due that it became generally 
adopted soon afterward. It was evidently the 
rational method, yet the bishop censured it; but, 
after some discussion upon the matter, he bowed 
before the genius of La Salle, and acknowledged the 
correctness of his views. 

The second remark made by Mgr. des Marais re- 
ferred to the penances and austerities practised by 
the Brothers. The good bishop had learned what 
human nature could endure, for he was known as 



The Ven. J. B. De La Salle. 173 

one of the most mortified prelates of his time. '* To 
the fatigues and responsibilities of the episcopate 
he added the austerities of the religious state ; he 
was the imitator of the Basils and the Chrysostoms, 
and gave honor to France by the antique type of 
his sanctity/' ^ He had already written to the Abbe 
de Ranc6 in the spirit in which he addressed the 
Venerable de La Salle. In his letter to the great 
Trappist reformer, he had written : *' Your chanting, 
your labor, and the moist air in which you live, 
exhaust the body, apart from the silence, solitude 
and discipline you practise. I have always thought 
that half a flask of wine would serve to nourish 
the stomach. In the same way a couple of eggs 
at dinner, with a portion of vegetables, would warm 
languishing bosoms, and, as the repast is over 
some hours before retiring, this can produce none 
of the pernicious effects that might otherwise be 
feared ; and as for your patron saint*s day, and the 
four great feasts of the year, were you to give some 
little fish to your community, 3^ou would do nothing 
more than what was in vogue in the earliest days 
of the existence of the Order of Chartreux. These 
little things which seem to be nothing, and which 
cannot cause intemperance or relaxation, are a 
wonderful means by which to cheer the mind, to 
strengthen the body, and to encourage the relig- 
ious afterward to pursue their exercises of penance 
with more zeal and fervor.*' The Abb6 de Ranee 
replied to this good-natured advice, that he could 
not change anything in the rule he had adopted, 

* " Histoire de La Trappe,'' par M. Gaillardain. 



174 ^^ Life and Work of 

and gave reasons which fully satisfied the prelate. 
As for the Venerable de La Salle, he knew, long 
before Montalembert had written it, that no order 
nad ever perished from want of subjects, so long as 
the rule was strictly observed ; "^ and he was able to 
assure Mgr. des Marais that what was required of 
his subjects could hurt no one. The mortifications 
which the Brothers of Chartres had imposed upon 
themselves were not included in the regulations: 
the good prelate had not seen them there. But he 
did not stand aloof from the Brothers; he had 
frequently visited them ; he had watched by their 
bedside when they were sick : he therefore spoke 
from personal experience. He had found that the 
illness of some of these Brothers was the result of 
indiscreet zeal. He had noticed disciplines and 
hair-shirts in their cells. These he removed, saying, 
in all justice, ** that the use of such instruments of 
penance was not compatible with the laborious and 
self-sacrificing life of a teacher.*' The holy Founder 
had made the same remark during his visitation. 
While he was moved with deepest emotion at the 
fervor of his children, he was compelled to tell 
them that their life as teachers and as Brothers 
already offered them sufficient sources of mortifica- 
tion, without adding these to the practices which 
could only be followed by recluses. Such were the 
principal events that transpired upon the occasion 
of La Salle*s sojourn at Chartres. The visit brought 
sunshine to his heart. When with the bishops, he 
was frequently reminded of the happy days they 

^ "Monks of the West." 



The Ven. J. B. De La Salle. 175 

had spent together in the seminary ; when with 
his Brothers, he was edified by their zeal and piety ; 
when with the clergy, his words were received as 
the utterances of a great servant of God : every- 
where he did good. 



Ipj The Life and Work of 



CHAPTER VI. 

The Venerable establishes Sunday Lecture Courses for Artisans and 
Tradesmen. — Success of the Enterprise. — Schools in Calais and 
Troyes. — Brother Gabriei and a Companion sent to Rome. — ^Avignon 
and Marseilles obtain Brothers. — Envy and Discontent in Paris. — La 
Salle unjustly held responsible. — M. Pirot, Vicar- General, investigates 
the Complaints. — Patience and Humility shown by La Salle. — 
Cardinal de Noailles appoints a new Superior. — The attempted In- 
stallation. — Scenes. — M. Bricet refuses to accept the Position as 
Superior.— La Salle threatened with Exile, — M. de La Ch^tardie 
interferes. — ^The Director of Novices and his Companion abandon the 
Institute. 

Great diversity of opinion prevails between Pro- 
testant and Catholic concerning the observance of 
the Sunday. The former attempts to revive the 
Judaic Strictness of the Sabbath ; the latter takes 
the idea of rest in ^ broader signification than that 
of mere bodily repose. The Puritanical idea is, that 
listening to a sermon and reading the Bible shall 
occupy the Sunday ; there must be no recreation, 
no innocent amusements; a Christian household 
must live throughout the day in the gloom and 
silence of the tomb. The better-instructed Christian 
believes that after divine services the son of 
labor may amuse himself rationally, or devote his 
spare hours to mental improvement. These were 
the views entertained by the Venerable de La Salle. 
Certain Flemish priests, in obedience to a decree of 



The Ven. J. A De La Salle. if; 

the Council of Malines, had opened Sunday-schools, 
in which reading and writing were taught for a 
couple of hours ; this was followed by religious 
instruction. This was an idea according to the 
bent of La Salle's genius. Ever on the look-out for 
a new means of doing good to youth, he consulted 
with the Archbishop of Paris, and obtained his con- 
sent for the opening of such a school in St. Sulpice 
parish. M. de La Chetardie cooperated as far as 
possible, and in the month of October, 1699, the 
classes were opened to all young men of twenty or 
thereabouts, who had good-will and some talent to 
acquire the knowledge suited to their avocations. 
Thus we see that, as early as the close of the seven- 
teenth century. La Salle had understood and more 
completely provided for the instruction and improve- 
ment of tradesmen than the associations and trades- 
unions of our own day. Always sj^stematic in his 
undertakings, he submitted the young men to an ex- 
amination, after which they were placed in classes or 
sections suited to their capacity. " M. de La Salle,'' 
says F. Lucard, ** who created training-schools in 
France, is also the first to inaugurate public lessons 
in mathematics and the fine-arts.""^ ** Three hours 
were devoted to the sciences or arts suited to each 
one's profession or avocation. Special stress was laid 
upon geography, bookkeeping, architecture, geo- 
metry and drawing ; this was followed by a religious 
instruction. We cannot express the good produced 
by this school. It caused an entire change in the 
morals of these young men, who had at first been 

*" Vie de M. de La Salle," t. i, p. 147, 2™e edition. 



178 The Life and Work of 

attracted only by the desire of improvement in secU'^ 
lar studies."* The fame of the school spread through- 
out Paris. Soon it passed into the provinces. 

'' Ponthon, a student of theology in the seminary 
of Bons Enfants, gave so glowing a description of 
the good effected by the Brothers in St. Sulpice, 
that his uncle^ the Dean of Calais, determined to 
secure the services of such excellent masters."! He 
said that the occasion was a favorable one, as the 
teacher had died a short time previously. La 
Salle wished time to study the means by which to 
found a permanent establishment; nevertheless, he 
stated that it was his earnest desire to comply with 
the wishes of the pastor. Delay only increased the 
desire of the latter. As soon as the vacation time 
set in, he once more urged upon the Venerable 
Founder the opening of the new community. Not 
satisfied with his own repeated request, he secured 
the influence of the city officials. They wrote to the 
governor of Calais, Due de Bethune, to interest him 
in the project ; and so favorable were the accounts 
he received of the great work done by La Salle 
and his disciples, that he was pleased to join his 
voice with the others to obtain Brothers for the 
new field of labor. The Venerable Founder called 
upon the duke, and was surprised to find him the 
same commander who had attracted his attention 
that very morning by the piety and modesty with 
which he had communicated. Two such souls were 
not long coming to an understanding. La Salle sent 

*** Vie," by a Member of the University, p. 78^ 
t F. Lucard, p. 104. 



The Ven, J. B. De La Salle. 179 

two Brothers to Calais. They found everything in 
readiness for their reception. They decUned, how- 
ever, to assume their duties without having first 
obtained the blessing and the consent of Mgr. de 
Langle, the Bishop of Calais. His lordship received 
them very kindly, gave them the necessary powers, 
and issued a circular-letter to his people, encourag- 
ing them to send their children to the new teachers. 
The school was immediately opened, to the great 
satisfaction of the good pastor. 

The same zealous priest was partially instru- 
mental in securing the estabUshment of a school for 
sailors' children. After his death, which occurred 
too soon for the good of the schools, Louis XIV 
appropriated a considerable sum for the continuance 
of these good works which he had inaugurated. 
His liberalities were largely increased by the gener- 
osity of prominent persons in Calais. 

The city of Troyes was the next to welcome 
the Brothers. Two were sent to open a school in 
M. De Be*s parish. Their expenses were partially 
defrayed by Madame de Galmet ; the balance was 
supplied by Mgr. de Chavigny and M. Bouillerot. 
The attendance was so large, that two classes were 
found totally inadequate. Pere Chantereau, a cele- 
brated Oratorian, insisted that five extra Brothers 
should be secured. In the pulpit and in private he 
spoke pathetically of the good which the disciples 
of M. de La Salle were effecting."^ After the death 
of M. De Be, the bishop purchased a home for the 
Brothers; previously they had been installed in the 

* '* Histoire de la ville et du diocese de Troyes." 



l8o The Life and Work of 

vestry. The city authorities, to show their appreci^ 
ation of the services rendered by the Brothers, 
voted an annual sum in their behalf. 

We have already seen that the Venerable de La 
Salle was considered as a priest the purity of whose 
doctrine was beyond suspicion. He was devoted 
to the Papacy. It had long been his desire to 
see some of his children in the eternal city. The 
position of teacher was not in great repute at the 
time in Rome, for the Itahans thought such labor 
beneath them. District schools were generally 
taught by strangers. The most ancient schools of 
this class were known as r^gionnaires, probably 
because there was one for each region or section 
of a city. The first gratuitous school was founded 
in Rome by St. Joseph Calasanzio. The masters 
already established thought that the field should be 
left entirely in their hands, and it was only after a 
protracted struggle that the holy man succeeded in 
founding a prosperous institution. The Venerable 
de La Salle was ignorant of the existence of St. 
Joseph Calasanzio's schools when he sent his dis- 
ciples thither. This fact is established by his cor- 
respondence with Brother Gabriel, Director of 
Laon, whom he had sent to Rome. 

This Brother, whose name will be mentioned 
several times in the remaining pages of our narra- 
tive, was one of those souls who do not bargain with 
God, and who, after having labored much, consider 
themselves useless siervants. His rare piety as a 
religious rendered his merits as a teacher much 
greater. His school at Laon was in a most flourishing 



The Ven. J. B, De La Salle. i8i 

donditiori ; his scholars remained with him several 
years : many of them were from sixteen to eighteen 
years old. The reputation of his school brought to it 
such crowds, that it was found absolutely necessary 
to request the Venerable de La Salle to send two 
additional Brothers. The bishop, Mgr. Louis de 
Clermont, promised to supply their wants from his 
private purse. Such was the esteem which the wise 
direction and cultivated talents of Brother Gabriel 
brought upon the good work in his charge. His 
past success, and an intimate knowledge of his char- 
acter and ability, induced his superior to make him 
the representative of the institute at Rome. M. de 
La Salle and his friend, M. Guiart, pastor of Saint- 
Pierre-le-Vieux, recommended him to the kind 
attention of Cardinal C6sar d'Estr6es, former Bishop 
of Laon, and for a considerable time Charg^-d' Affaires 
for France at the court of Rome. Brother Gabriel 
had as companion one whose name is now unknown. 

Thanks to the influence of Cardinal d'Estrees, 
these two Brothers received a private audience of 
the Holy Father, Innocent XII, who treated them 
with great kindness, and promised to protect them. 
His death prevented him from realizing his gener- 
ous intentions. It is, therefore, about the end of 
the seventeenth century that Brother Gabriel and 
his assistant settled in the capital of the Christian 
world, for Innocent XII died in 1700. 

Cardinal d'Estrees had already assisted at the 
election of three popes. Before returning to France, 
he labored earnestly, and with success, to secure 
the election of Cardinal Albani, consecrated pope 



1 82 The Life and Work of 

under the name of Clement XL In 1703 he left 
the Eternal City, never to return, for Louis XIV 
sent him for a time to the court of Philip V of 
Spain, and afterward gave him the abbey of Saint- 
Germain-des-Pres, where he remained till 17 14, the 
year in which he died. Before quitting Rome, he 
recommended the Brothers to the kind offices of M. 
Claude de La Bussi^re, who was afterward to prove 
a warm friend and protector of the children of La 
Salle. Brother Gabriel always found him ready at 
a moment's notice to render any service, and after 
his companion had returned to France, M. de La 
Bussi6re*s home often gave him hospitaHty. A few 
months after, the Venerable Founder was called 
upon to open another school, which was a source of 
consolation for him. It happened that Brother 
GabrieFs companion, on his return from Rome, 
stopped at Avignon, where he gave so flattering an 
account of the work accomplished by the Brothers, 
that M. de Castel-Bianco, papal treasurer, who 
desired a teacher for a district school which his wife 
had established, wrote to M. de La Salle, asking for 
two of his disciples. They were immediately sent, 
and, while awaiting the arranging of the house in 
which they were to dwell, they became the guests of 
the worthy treasurer, who lavished upon them every 
mark of esteem and sympathy. ** Faithful to the in- 
structions received from their hol}^ Founder, the two 
Brothers first presented themselves to the Arch- 
bishop of Avignon, Mgr. Fieschi, who received them 
most cordially. Under his auspices the school was 
opened in 1703." ^ Heaven blessed the new mission 

* F. Lucard, p. 119. 



The Ven. J. B. De La Salle. 183 

to such an extent, that M. Castel-Bianco was obliged 
to ask for two additional Brothers. This gave great 
consolation to M. de La Salle, who wrote as follows 
to Brother Gabriel : ^*We have four Brothers at 
Avignon ; their schools are doing very well ; a 
house is to be built for them, sufficiently spacious 
for twenty persons. I introduced these Brothers to 
the Archbishop of Avignon, nuncio-extraordinary 
to France ; he received them very kindly, and was 
pleased to give them his blessing, with many marks 
of good-will.'' 

The Brothers were next established in Marseilles, 
where a number of merchants, and other persons 
of means, subscribed a sufficient sum for the proper 
maintenance of a public school under the patronage 
of St. Lawrence. " It is to be desired," said these 
generous persons, *'that there should be a suffi- 
cient capital assured for the continuance of St. 
Lawrence's school. This will come with time ; 
Providence will not allow His work to remain in- 
complete ; some one will be found to finish it. In 
the meantime we will create an association of 
subscribers, who shall have the charit}^ to contribute, 
each year, to support the school, and to pay the 
teachers.'* This association was established, and re- 
ceived the approbation of the ordinary, who headed 
the list with a generous subscription. The city 
authorities promised to aid the good work by an 
annual contribution. 

The school was first placed in charge of Baron, a 
deacon of Castellane, who, in the committee, had 
received the greatest number of votes. 



184 The Life and Work of 

" P6re Croiset, S. J., who had been decorated by 
Clement IX, and whose piety and talents gave him 
great influence in Marseilles, induced Mgr. de Vinti- 
mille to replace Deacon Baron by the Brothers of 
the Christian Schools. The bishop knew little of 
them at the time, and, before coming to any decision, 
resolved to examine into their methods of teach- 
ing. Such open-handed dealing must have been 
not a little gratifying to La Salle, and prepossessed 
him in favor of acceding to the request of the good 
citizens of Marseilles, headed as it was by their 
bishop. He accepted the school. The success 
which blessed the Brothers elsewhere followed 
them hithen Their classes were unable to accom- 
modate the number of scholars that hastened to 
be instructed, and they were obliged to secure 
more spacious apartments. In the minutes of the 
association we read that the two Brothers opened 
the school ** with much piety and prudence, and to 
the great gratification of the parishioners.*' We are 
further told that two of the citizens " bought the 
furniture for them, provided for their wants, and 
paid all the expenses they underwent in establish- 
ing themselves.'' ^ 

The first Brothers in Marseilles proved worthy 
of the reception they had received. Their holy 
Founder, writing to Brother Gabriel on the six- 
teenth of April, 1706, told him, with great satisfac- 
tion, that the establishment in Marseilles, ** though 
opened but one month, already counted over two 

* Stance, 6 avril, 1706. F. Lucard, ** Vie de M. de La Salle," t. i, p. 
157, 2 "e edition. 



The Yen. ^, B. De La Salle. 185 

hundred scholars/'* Year after year the merchants 
of Marseilles proved that their old affection for the 
Brothers had not grown lukewarm. 

After one of those social upheavals to which 
France is subject when religious institutions were 
reestablished, it was concluded that the Brothers 
might be dispensed with ; but the merchants and 
principal business men, who had been educated by 
the Brothers, thought otherwise, and by protest 
and petition so influenced the government of Louis 
Philippe, that the Brothers' college was reestab- 
lished. 

The work of genius is not allowed to pass 
unchallenged by the world ; when it is the work of 
genius and saintliness combined, the ordeal through 
which it passes is still more severe. That of the 
Venerable de La Salle combines both ; it cannot 
always continue in this prosperous condition. We 
must look for the hour of adversity. It is at hand. 
While we have been recording its rapid growth, 
the storm has been gathering, and will soon burst. 
Such a good work could not live without adver- 
saries. They were not at this time numerous, but 
they were powerful. '' Some,** remarks Rohrbacher, 
** were probably instigated by their Jansenistic pro- 
clivities ; others obeyed only personal passions." 

The immediate cause of this serious and pro- 
longed trouble to which La Salle was subjected at 
this time, was the conduct of the director who 
governed the Brothers of Paris ; the severity of the 
novice-master was the culmination of the difficulty. 

* F. Lucard, p. 115. 



1 86 The Life and Work of 

With a growing multiplicity of houses, there 
devolved upon the Venerable Founder a corre- 
sponding amount of responsibility. This drew him 
off more and more from entering into the minute 
details of each house. He relied in a great measure 
upon directing them during the greater part of the 
year by the monthly correspondence which he had 
established. And then he knew no favoritism in 
the governing of the various communities of the 
institute. He supervised his houses in Paris no 
more attentively than he did those in Chartres or 
Rouen. He placed implicit confidence in the men 
at the head of affairs. Their regularity satisfied 
him. He knew them to be exact; but he did not 
know them to be extremely exacting. They were 
so to harshness, and this precipitated upon his head 
the storm that had been brewing. 

In the month of November, 1702, two young nov- 
ices, one of whom was employed in school, the 
other being yet in the novitiate, were harshly treated 
by their superiors. The holy Founder was then 
absent, visiting his communities. The novices, in- 
stead of waiting for his return, laid their grievances 
before M. de la Chetardie. The uniform kindness 
which this pastor had shown the Brothers and their 
Founder was, perhaps, an extenuating circumstance 
in the conduct of these young men. They were 
led to think that his influence would be brought to 
bear in their favor: it is not to be believed that 
the}' thought in any way of injuring M. de La 
Salle, from whom they had received none but the 
greatest marks of kindness. The part of prudence, 



The Ven. y. B. De La Salle. 187 

and even of justice, would have been for M. de La 
Ch6tardie to advise the young Brothers to submit, 
for the time being, to the local directors, awaiting 
the return of the only person who could rightfully 
hear and remedy their complaints ; but, strange as 
it may appear, he took the opposite course : he 
encouraged the novices, by not refusing to flatter 
their insubordination, and conceived a preposses- 
sion against M. de La Salle, which was removed 
only partially after several years. The trouble, 
once made known, became public property ; and La 
Salle's enemies were but too glad that so favorable 
an opportunity was given them to vent their spleen 
against him. For this purpose they held conver- 
sations with the two young Brothers, and induced 
them to give a written statement of their grievances, 
which their interlocutors made the basis of a me- 
morial they shortly afterward presented to the 
archbishop. 

** Cardinal de Noailles then occupied the archi- 
episcopal chair of Paris. He was learned and chari- 
table, but of a weak and vacillating character. As 
Bishop of Chalons, he had approved the Moral Re- 
flections of Quesnel ; as Archbishop of Paris, he had 
condemned the Jansenistic work of the Abbe Boreas ; 
later, he combated the Jesuits, and, in 1700, caused 
several propositions, drawn from their works, to be 
condemned. In 171 3 he refused to receive the bull 
Unigenitus ; some months after, he revoked his ap- 
probation of Quesnel's works. In 171 7 he headed 
the appellants, and published a pastoral, which was 
condemned at Rome ; afterward he repented, wrote 



1 88 The Life and Work of 

a touching letter of submission to the Holy Father, 
retracted his appeal, and kept all the promises 
made to the Holy See/* ^ With such a man first 
impressions are often decisive. Though originally 
well-disposed toward the Venerable de La Salle, to 
whom he had given extensive powers, he allowed 
himself to be influenced by the apparent sincerity 
of those who presented the memorial. 

" His eminence,'* says Garreau, ** read the memo- 
rial with great surprise, and could not discover in it 
any resemblance to the spirit of moderation and mild- 
ness that he had always remarked in M. de La Salle ; 
but the facts were so circumstantially stated, that 
they at least created suspicion. Consequently, he 
resolved that investigations should be made quietly, 
and with as little publicity as possible.'* f Another 
biographer, with great pertinency, remarks : *^ Cer- 
tainly, as superior, M. de La Salle might be held 
responsible for the excessive severity of his subor- 
dinates, if he had authorized it either by word, ex- 
ample or toleration : but the second occurrence, like 
the first, had taken place in his absence. If his con- 
duct had never encouraged such rigor, was it just to 
blame him ? Nevertheless, this was done. It was 
believed that, because a second Brother-Director 
had acted like the first, it could only be through 
nstructions received from the Founder. A system 
was built upon two accidents'' % His eminence never 
thought of looking at the affair in this Hght. He 
treated the whole as one of great moment. 

* Ravelet, p. 287. t *' Vie de M. de La Salle," vol. ii, p. 51. 

X Ayma, " Vie de M. de La Salle," p. 213. 



The Ven. J. B. De La Salle. 189 

** Some days after, the cardinal sent M. Edme 
Perot, his vicar-general, to the Brothers' community, 
under pretext of a visit, but really to obtain infor- 
mation as to the complaints that had been made, 
and to discover the true sentiments of the Brothers 
toward M. de La Salle/'* And, after all, what did 
the specific accusations amount to? Was there in 
them any shade of Jansenism or Quietism? By no 
means. It was simply a question of severity in 
governing. Be it remembered that the men at the 
bottom of the whole trouble are straining every 
nerve, are making a mountain out of every mole- 
hill, in order to carry their ultimate aim; and still 
they can only accuse him of being severe toward 
his subjects, as though it was the first time it was 
heard that religious superiors ruled their subjects 
with severity ! " We must confess,*' says a worthy 
son of this suffering Founder, " that the reproaches 
addressed to him bear only on the nature of his 
dealings with his disciples. The noble Jean Baptiste 
de La Salle, so well known by his education and 
amiable character ; the Sulpitian, who, according to 
his superior, never gave trouble to anybody^ was repre- 
sented as a man hard, even brutal, pushing to cruelty 
his tyrannical exactions with regard to religious 
austerities. They dare not incriminate either his 
acts or his words ; all were compelled to praise his 
doctrine, and to admire his private conduct : they 
attacked in him only the superior."f " M. Perot, 
who was empowered to make the investigation, 

♦ P^re Maillefer, ** Vie de M. de La Salle/' p. 92. 

t F. Lucard, «* Vie de M. de La Salle," t. i, p. 162, 2°»e edition. 



190 The Life and Work of 

was doctor of divinity, professor in the Sorbonne, 
chancellor and canon of the Metropolitan Church. 
Being seventy-one years of age, it was supposed 
that he possessed the prudence required in so deli- 
cate a mission. For an entire month he came each 
week to the novitiate, and obliged all the Brothers, 
under oath, to make known their grievances. The 
Venerable de La Salle was then absent, establishing 
a school in Troyes. Upon his return, he found the 
investigation proceeding, but refused to learn any- 
thing'of its character, made no defence, and awaited 
with patience the good pleasure of Providence. The 
examination proved in his favor. All the Brothers 
loved him tenderly ; they lived in peace, happy in 
their vocation, attached to their rule, save three, who 
were displeased with others because they were not 
pleased with themselves. No complaint was made."* 
His friends began to breathe freely. They found 
the complaints of the novices a mere cloaking for 
deeper malice. 

M. Guiart, pastor at Laon, learning from the 
Brothers of that city of the difficulties in which the 
imprudence of his children had placed the holy 
Founder, wrote to one of his friends, a doctor in 
theology, asking him to use his influence with the 
cardinal. The answer he received throws light on 
the subject : " I have seen Mgr. the Cardinal and 
M. Paulet. I trust that, with time, his eminence will 
cast aside the unfavorable impressions which he has 
allowed himself to entertain against M. de La Salle, 
whose great crimen as far as I can see^ is that he refuses 

* Ravelet, p. 288. 



The Ven. J. B, De La Salle. 191 

to be led by his enemies y who wish to interfere in the 
direction of the spiritual affairs of the comimtnity. 
So far, M. de La Salle has refused to allow this/' "^ 

Despite these powerful influences brought to 
bear in his favor, the good Founder was destined to 
feel the keenest humiliation. '' M. de La Salle," 
says Maillefer, *' who did not know the object of 
this visit, deemed it his duty to thank his eminence 
for the interest he had taken in the good order and 
discipline «of his community." The cardinal had 
his mind made up concerning the affair. '' He 
received him with his usual politeness. After a few 
moments' conversation, without making any com- 
plaint or reproach, without making known the 
motives of his decision, he quietly said : * Sir, you 
are no longer superior of your community ; I have 
appointed another.* The Venerable de La Salle 
felt the severity of the blow which had been entirely 
unforeseen. He asked no explanation, sought not 
to avoid the stroke, but retired in silence, blessing 
God who had allowed him to be humbled. He 
had often wished to be relieved of the great burden 
which weighed upon him. He was now heard." f 
Returning to his community, he said nothing of 
what had happened. His confidence in God made 
him calmly await the course of events. 

M. Perot was appointed to introduce the new su- 
perior. He had previously notified M. de La Salle 
to have all prepared for the installation. It was 
something unusual for the Venerable to invite all his 



* P^re Blain, " Vie de M. de La Salle/' vol. i, p. 418. 
t Ravelet, p. 288. 



192 The Life and Work of 

children, in an urgent manner, to meet him; and 
when the Brothers of Paris received the notice that 
they were to assemble on the first Sunday in Advent, 
at a somewhat late hour in the afternoon, they sup- 
posed an agreeable surprise to be in store for them. 
Accordingly they assembled, and all appeared de- 
lighted to be with their father, who on the occasion 
was more than usually kind and gracious toward 
them. At about six in the afternoon the vicar- 
general was announced. With him came M. Bricot, 
a young priest from Lyons, who was warmly at- 
tached to M. de La Chetardie. The Founder re- 
ceived them with great respect, and conducted them 
to the places of honor which had been prepared for 
them in the neatly decorated hall. 

When silence had been restored, and all the 
Brothers assembled, M. Perot addressed his some- 
what surprised audience. He began by paying a 
very warm tribute to the worth of M. de La Salle, 
who, he said, had been destined by Providence to 
bring the rising institute to its present degree of 
prosperity. He next proceeded to speak of obedi. 
ence to ecclesiastical authority, and, by a dexterous 
use of words, finally introduced the delicate part of 
his mission, by presenting them M. Bricot as their 
future superior. There was no doubt, M. P6rot 
said, that they would all prove docile children to 
their new father, and thus give great pleasure to the 
cardinal, who had manifested such deep interest in 
their welfare by the rare choice he had made of 
the new superior. 

While the speaker had contented himself with a 



The Ven. J. B. De La Salle. 193 

mere enumeration of M. Bricot's qualities, the 
Brothers listened with surprise ; but their suprise 
changed to indignation when he said : "I regret to 
announce to you that M. de La Salle is no longer 
the superior of your community: he has been re- 
placed by M. Bricot/' 

The tumult that followed, say M. de La Salle*s 
earliest biographers, can more easil)^ be imagined 
than described. Among the entire community there 
was but one calm person, and that was the deposed 
superior. He urged that the wishes of the cardinal 
should be obeyed, and, in the name of the power 
he still held, since they continued to protest that 
he was their superior, he commanded them to 
submit in all things to the new general. The 
Venerable de La Salle, fortunately for his institute, 
had instructed his disciples too well in the meaning 
of the obligations they had taken, and the import of 
the document that had been signed, in reference to 
future superiors. The Brothers humbly, but posi- 
tively, protested that they recognized no superior, 
except '* one of their own choosing :" in fine, they 
declared that a decision which had been extorted 
from the cardinal by false representations was, of 
itself, null and void ; and as this introduction of a new 
superior, even if he were one of themselves, could 
not be legal, unless approved by the body of the 
institute, they refused, under the circumstances, to 
accept M. Bricot as their future guide. 

** This resistance proved how false were the re- 
ports that had been spread against M. de La Salle. 

Had he been the hard taskmaster that he was 

9 



194 The Life and Work of 

represented, he would never have been so warmly 
defended by his disciples. M. Perot should have by 
this time seen the imprudence of the step which he 
had taken. Policy would have dictated a prudent 
retreat, but he was now determined to go through 
with his undertaking. He did not wish to continue 
a discussion in which he had no valid reasons to 
advance, and in w^hich he was obliged to limit him- 
self to the assertion that he acted under authority. 
He took the sentence of the cardinal, signed by 
him and sealed with the archiepiscopal seal, and read 
it aloud. This instrument, in which the pretended 
wrongs committed by the Venerable de La Salle 
were enumerated, increased the opposition. The 
Brothers could no longer contain their indignation, 
and they appealed from the archbishop to the arch- 
bishop better informed.*' ^ 

The imprudent director of novices was present, 
and appeared disconsolate at seeing the difficulties 
that his severity had caused. He attempted to de- 
fend his superiors, but was told by M. P6rot that 
he at least should be silent. It was not for him to 
speak who had given rise in part, said the vicar- 
general, to the scandalous spirit which was mani- 
fested on the occasion. Another person, continues 
Ravelet, who was greatly disconcerted, was M. 
Bricot, who felt the awkwardness of his position, 
and who desired to terminate the painful scene, b}'' 
declaring that he wished the Brothers to be left in 
the keeping of the person for whom they expressed 
so much love and attachment. He further declared 

* Ravelet, p. 290. 



The Ven. J. B. De La Salle. 195 

that he would never accept the direction of a house 
whose keys could open its doors, but could not give 
him free entrance to the hearts of its inmates. The 
archbishop, on learning what had occurred, was 
highly incensed, and vented his anger upon M. Perot, 
whose want of tact he blamed for his non-success. 
And yet, for a moment, the clouds that enveloped 
the servant of God in their folds, were rent by the 
light of truth which flashed from M. Perot in these 
words: " If religious in every community were as 
attached to their superior as the Brothers are to 
M. de La Salle, we would not witness so many 
disorders in Paris.** But the Hght was only momen- 
tary, and left no impression upon the cardinal. 
To him, the superior's conduct, his actions, his 
motives, his saintliness of life, his noble genius, 
were shrouded in impenetrable darkness; he saw 
nothing of them ; he only saw in their stead a 
tyrannical superior, who would cloak his harshness 
in the garb of simplicity. This accounts for the 
manner of the next reception he gave him. The 
humble Founder, whose heart bled at the very 
appearance of insubordination, hastened to the 
archiepiscopal residence, and throwing himself upon 
his knees before the cardinal, implored his pardon 
for the scandal which, he said, his disciples had 
given. Mgr. de Noailles, without even noticing 
the servant of God so humbly prostrate before 
him, left the room. Crushed in the keenest feeUngs 
of his heart, M. de La Salle returned, offering to 
God this draught which had not yet filled the cup 
of his sorrow. Soon was noised abroad the scene 



196 The Life and Work of 

of his humiliation. La Salle seemed, to all intents 
and purposes, a man doomed to fall a victim to pop- 
ular prejudice. Daily, wild stories were scattered 
in certain circles, tending to incriminate him still 
more deeply, and each succeeding one wilder than 
its predecessor. Finally, the popular mind became 
so worked up, that it began to deliberate whether 
such an execrable character should not be forbidden 
the city. Men began to talk of having an act of 
parliament passed, exiling him. The Brothers grew 
alarmed. They went to M. Chetardie, and told him 
plainly that, if their superior were obliged to quit 
Paris, they would not remain behind him. *' They 
wish to exile him in spite of his innocence,*' said 
they ; '' but, should they go to this sad extremity, 
we are determined to abandon all the schools we 
direct in Paris, to follow him. We will go and es- 
tablish ourselves in some diocese where, under the 
impartial and enlightened protection of the ordinary, 
we will be permitted to live according to the rules 
of our institute.'' M. Chetardie read determination 
in their words, and, however indifferent he might 
be concerning the Founder, he was not so concern- 
ing his schools. Moreover, notwithstanding the pre- 
judices under which he labored, he could not help 
admiring the love which the Brothers expressed for 
their Venerable Founder. He therefore set about 
reconciling the latter with the archbishop. But, 
fearing lest he might not succeed in fully settling 
a difficulty he had helped to create, he requested 
Abb6 Madot, who had great influence with the 
cardinal, to endeavor to secure a peaceful solution 



The Ven. J, B. De La Salle. 197 

of the pending troubles. So far, La Salle had one 
consolation in this, persecution : those who had 
been foremost in condemning the shepherd, pitied 
the sheep. But there were those who struck at the 
shepherd only that they might scatter the sheep. 
Theirs was a deeper game ; it was none other than 
the destruction of the institute. They took advantage 
of the present troubles to go among the Brothers, 
and make them dissatisfied w^ith their state. They 
reflected upon their scanty meals, their meagre fare, 
their poor dress, their life of constant mortifica- 
tion. But the good Brothers retorted upon them 
their remarks with a noble indignation. Especially 
did these malicious people look with an envious 
eye upon the brilliant success of the Sunday lecture- 
course. To break that down, they made use of all 
their address. They plied the good Brothers in 
every direction ; they spoke to their vanity, by let- 
ting them know their ability ; they tempted their 
cupidity, by showing them the riches they might 
acquire in giving such courses upon their own re- 
sponsibility. The Brothers wavered, La Salle rushed 
to their rescue ; but they heeded not his words, 
self spoke too loud in their hearts : they finally aban- 
doned their vocations, to learn soon enough that 
they had been deceived. This was the greatest pang 
to the holy Founder in the midst of all his trials. In 
the meanwhile, the sky began to clear; men were 
seeing things once more in their true light. 

Shortly after his interview with the Brothers, 
M. de La Chetardie took pleasure in telling them 
that the proceedings against their Founder had 



igS The Life and Work of 

been quashed in parliament. He was not without 
his reward for this needed intervention. Several 
Brothers, after some scruples, caused by the late 
desertion from their ranks, had been removed by 
the advice of their Founder, anxiously devoted 
themselves to the study of linear-drawing, that 
the Sunday lecture-course might be reopened. 
After three months* interruption it was again in- 
augurated, and over three hundred young men 
availed themselves of its advantages. At the request 
of M. de La Chetardie, drawing was made a study 
in all the schools of Paris. It were well to bear in 
mind that this was a step far in advance of the times, 
for drawing was unknown in other schools than 
such as were directed by the Brothers. Before 
calling upon his eminence, M. Madot called upon 
the Brothers, but found that their resolution was 
fixed ; they wished no other superior than him 
whom they had themselves elected, according to 
rules which had already been approved by several 
prelates. When told that their resistance was an 
insult to the archbishop, they replied that they 
were willing to make any reparation required, if in 
fault; but they could recognize no one save M. de 
La Salle as their superior. They agreed, finally, to 
allow M. Bricot to preach once in their presence, 
and to make another visit at the end of three months. 
The sermon and the visit were accepted ; and the 
good M. Bricot, to whose credit it must be said 
that he had been led into the false position, re- 
quested the cardinal to give him another duty : 
which petition was at once granted. And now 



The Ven, J. B. De La Salle. 199 

that the storm has subsided, let us cast a glance 
at those too exacting directors who had brought 
it on. 

As is often the case, those who had been so exact- 
ing with others, were unable to bear humiliation 
themselves. When warned by the Venerable de 
La Salle that their conduct was not in keeping with 
the maxims of the Gospel, those would-be saints 
left the community in their religious dress, and ap- 
plied at La Trappe to be received as penitents. The 
prudent superior inquired the particulars, which 
were given by M. de La Salle, and the deserters 
were refused admission. Returning to their sorely- 
tried superior, they implored forgiveness, which he 
was so charitable as to grant. The director of 
novices was sent to a community, where he died, 
after a short time, of a frightful disease. The other's 
inconstancy made him again abandon his state. 
Cardinal de Noailles, who was as generous in re- 
parinc^ as he was hasty in judging, ever afterward 
honored the Venerable de La Salle as a person of 
the greatest worth, and whose virtue was of a 
character that no future calumnies could injure in 
his estimation. 



200 The Life and Work of 



CHAPTER VII. 

The Venerable removes from Notre-Dame-des-Vertus. — The Sisters of 
St. Dominic. — The Sunday Lecture-Course closed. — St. Roch. — Dar« 
netal and Rouen receive Brothers. — Difficulties of the last Mission. — 
Novitiate at St. Yon. — Madame de Louvois and the Benedictine Nuns. 
— The Boarding-School at St. Yon. — Its Character and Regulations. — 
The Abb6 Hecquet. — La Salle opens a parochial School at his own 
Expense. — Schools for Delinquents and Culprits. 

La Salle had barely succeeded in reopening the 
Sunday lecture-course, when the lease of Notre- 
Dame-des-Dix-Vertus expired. The building was 
offered at public sale for forty thousand francs, 
which sum, though small in itself, was quite beyond 
his control. He was therefore obliged to seek other 
accommodations, which he found in Rue Charonne. 
The new dwelling was rented for a year ; the con- 
sent of the pastor of St. Paul having been first ob- 
tained, for it was in his parish. The holy Founder 
and his novices took possession of their new home 
on the twentieth of August, 1730. Every day he 
went with them to the chapel of the Sisters of St. 
Dominic, which was close by, and he offered the 
holy sacrifice for the two communities. 

It was not long till these good religious appreci- 
ated the worth of the holy priest. ** I know," said 
one of the prioresses of this convent, *' that the very 
appearance of the saintly Founder inspired the 



The Ven. j. B. De La Salle. 20 i 

Sisters with so much confidence, that they desired 
to speak with him and receive his counsels/* The 
superiors, always on their guard against the abuses 
which may arise under such circumstances, at first 
objected ; but no sooner had they seen the servant 
of God and appreciated his merit, than they will- 
ingly gave the dispensation requested/* The Vener- 
able de La Salle thus became the spiritual director 
of the Sisters of St. Dominic. The admiration 
which his virtues had acquired him, daily increased. 
The Brothers in Paris ever after found in these 
Sisters generous and disinterested benefactresses. 

In leaving Notre-Dame-des-Vertus, La Salle did 
not wish the Sunday lecture-course to be discon- 
tinued. He therefore invited the students to his 
new residence, where the studies were continued, 
till the writing-masters interfered and caused the 
lecture-course to be closed. Tn 1705 this important 
undertaking was suspended. " But it is not less true 
to say," remarks a judicious historian, ''that it is a 
glory for religion to have given birth to, and realized 
the idea of, an establishment so advantageous to the 
progress of art, the first of its kind seen in Paris or 
known in France y "^ 

In the midst of his trials, the good work progressed 
in other directions. Thanks to the liberality of M. 
de Blaisey and Claude Rigoley, the Brothers were 
enabled to open a school at Dijon. But the discon- 
tinuance of the Sunday lecture-course rendered it 
once more necessary for La Salle to change his 
domiciliary residence. He scarcely knew whither to 

* "Histoire des Catechismes de St. Sulpice." 



20^ The Life and Work of 

turn, when Providence inspired M. Louis Coigriet 
to establish a school in his parish of St. Roch. 
This was very favorable to the Venerable, as M. 
Coignet was the senior pastor of Paris. He sent his 
novices to the Brothers of St. Sulpice, while he, 
with Brothers Ponce, Jean and Joseph Tenant, estab- 
lished themselves in Rue St. Honor6. The school 
succeeded beyond the pastor's expectations, and 
he did all in his power to make it continue prosper- 
ous. Such dispositions proved him worthy of the 
position to which he was shortly afterward called. 
In 1704 Abbe Deshayes, who had intimately 
known La Salle in Paris, encouraged the citizens of 
Darnetal to call his disciples to direct their schools. 
" I urge you,'' he said, " to call the disciples of M. 
de La Salle to direct our parish school. They are 
virtuous, well instructed, devoted and methodical." 
His proposition was unanimously accepted. He 
received the following letter from the Venerable 
Founder: **I have learned, through M. Chardon, 
that you have written to obtain our Brothers for 
Rouen, and that you ask for two ; you also request 
to know what is required to found the establish- 
ment. I am quite willing to send you the two 
Brothers. As far as the stipend is concerned, you 
know that we are not difficult to please, but we 
cannot send one Brother. If you will please to let 
me know for what quarter they are required, and 
what it is proposed to pay them, you will oblige me 
greatly. I think we will arrange matters easily, 
and that you will be pleased with the Brothers I 
shall send." 



The Ven, j, B, De La Salle, 203 

These teachers were not asked for Rouen ; but 
Darnetal, being a thriving place and within a short 
distance of that city, was a locality in which La Salle 
felt that his disciples could accomplish much good. 

Its proximity to the city of Rouen made him hope 
that the success his children there obtained, might 
be the means by which he would afterward be 
requested to establish a community in the city in 
which M. Nyel had commenced his labors, encour- 
aged by P. Barreand Madame Maillefer. 

Blain says that the amount offered by M. Deshayes 
was not sufficient to support one person, yet the 
Venerable de La Salle felt that God would come 
to his rescue ; and in sending his Bi-others to 
Darnetal, he was adding another to the many 
responsibilities his zeal for the salvation of souls had 
already made him assume. He did not hope in 
vain. The good done b}^ the Brothers drew num- 
erous assistants to their support ; and the slender 
stipend which he accepted for their maintenance 
was fully supplemented by the generosity of the 
good citizens of Darnetal. 

The Venerable Founder, though fully confident in 
Providence for the future of his schools, took the nec- 
essary precautions that the buildings appropriated 
for the purpose should be suited to their destination. 
He sent Brother Ponce to supervise the necessary 
improvements in the home offered in Darnetal; and 
this good Brother also obtained assurances that the 
teachers were highly esteemed by the Archbishop 
of Rouen. In an audience which the two masters 
in Darnetal secured, shortly after, from his grace, 



204 T^^^ Life and Work of 

they were convinced of his generous intentions, and 
they naively told him that the desire he then ex- 
pressed of seeing Brothers in his archiepiscopal city 
was shared by their father, M. de La Salle ; and that 
they even believed that, if authorized, the holy ser- 
vant of God would transfer his novitiate to that city. 
Delighted to know that Providence thus offered 
him the opportunity of securing Christian education 
for his children, and desirous of seeing the Vener- 
able de La Salle, he wrote, inviting his future friend 
to meet him before Easter. It was then the Lenten 
season, and the good prelate wished to have a 
personal interview with a man of whom he had 
formed so favorable an impression through the re- 
ports of his disciples. 

Nothing could have given M. de La Salle greater 
joy than the reception of this letter. We have 
seen that he was compelled to change the location 
of his novitiate several times ; and the Jansenistic 
atmosphere by which he found himself surrounded 
rendered Paris more and more unsuited to the 
purposes of a retreat in which young masters were 
to breathe the pure doctrine of which he was so 
earnest a supporter. Moreover, the constant annoy- 
ances to which he found himself and his disciples 
exposed, induced him most earnestly to beg that 
God would be pleased to offer him an asylum for 
his young novices, in whom he was so deeply 
interested. After consultation with the Archbishop 
of Rouen, it was determined that a school should be 
opened there ; but, as in all his enterprises, where a 
great result was at stake, the Venerable found the 



The Ven. J. B. De La Salle. 205 

entrance to Rouen hedged about with so many 
difficulties that he might have despaired of suc- 
cess, had he not been assured that the proposed 
conditions would not long be kept in force. The 
Brothers were required to live in the public hospi- 
tal, where they were to serve the patients before 
and after school-hours. The time occupied in 
going to, and coming from, the classes which were 
at some distance, and the distractions insepar- 
able from such multifarious duties, convinced the 
prudent Founder that it was not possible to continue 
such services, and he notified the authorities that 
he could only retain charge of the schools. The 
directors of the hospital answered that, in this 
case, they could only give half the stipend that the 
Brothers had previously been receiving. They be- 
lieved that this would induce him to withdraw his 
teachers entirely, which was the ardent desire of the 
writing-masters, who, even in Rouen, made war upon 
their successful, though modest, rivals. M. de La 
Salle, contrary to their expectations, accepted these 
conditions. Apparently he had acted rashly, for, in 
a short time, the Brothers were reduced to great 
misery. At the moment when they seemed most 
abandoned, a considerable sum was sent them, with 
a note, which read : *^ Do not seek to discover the 
donor ; place your confidence in God alone ; be 
careful to serve Him faithfully, and He will provide 
for you.*' 

The schools of Rouen soon attracted the atten- 
tion of several well-disposed persons, among others, 
Colbert and de Pontcarr6. These two generous 



2o6 The Life and Work of 

gentlemen urged the Venerable de La Salle to trans- 
fer his novitiate to their city, promising that they 
would defray all the expenses for the journey of the 
novices and the transport of the furniture. The 
next question was to secure a proper location, — 
one which would be left him for some years, and 
which he might thus adapt to his purposes. 

At a short distance from the city at the extremity 
of the district Saint-Sever, there was an ancient 
mansion, to which vast gardens were attached ; it 
was enclosed with walls, around which large trees 
were planted. The busy hum of worldly affairs 
seemed to die away in this sweet solitude. No 
sooner had the traveller placed his foot upon this 
secluded spot, than he believed himself in another 
sphere, so sudden and agreeable was the change. 
The high, towering trees and their thick foliage hid 
even the tops of the walls, and nothing of the outer 
world looked upon this chosen retreat. The blue 
sky above was the only witness of the acts of those 
who inhabited St. Yon, for this was the name by 
which the villa was known. One of the last pro- 
prietors of this delightful spot had erected a chapel 
there : later, the property had been rented by the 
Benedictine Nuns, who occupied it in 1691, and 
enlarged the chapel. 

When the Venerable de La Salle visited this 
estate secretly lest his enemies should discover 
and frustrate his intentions, he found it admirably 
suited to his purpose; and as the ladies then in 
possession were quite willing to abandon it to 
him, he at once entered into negotiations with 



The Ven. J. S. De La Salte. 207 

the proprietress, Madame de Louvois, to whom 
he made known his intentions, and the little means 
he had to realize them. The good lady, whose 
heart Providence had already prepared, agreed to 
rent him the establishment at a very moderate 
figure. 

St. Yon was all that could be desired in point 
of accommodation ; its sanitary conditions were such 
that the Benedictine Nuns had principally secured it 
for the benefit of their sick and invalid sisters. The 
kindness with which they treated the Venerable de 
La Salle, should not be forgotten. Anxious to mani- 
fest their esteem for a servant of God who was held 
in such veneration by Mgr. Colbert, their bishop, 
they left the paintings and carpets of the chapel for 
the use of the good Brothers, who had long since 
forgotten such luxuries. 

A few days after, the lease was signed for a 
term of six years, and M. de La Salle transferred 
his novices to their new and spacious home. The 
work which had commenced in Va.ugirard, with no 
other crown than that which encircled the head of 
the divine Master, in whose name such sufferings 
had been endured, was now installed in a home 
where the roses that are found accompanying the 
thorn, clustered about it, resembling in their de- 
licious odor the sweet perfume of virtue which 
has rendered Vaugirard a household name among 
the Brothers. Mgr. Colbert, with some influential 
friends, often visited La Salle in his new home, and 
was pleased to give him full powers in his arch- 
diocese. Needless to say, the latter was over- 



^o8 The Life and Work of 

whelmed with holy joy. He was a captain who, 
after having been buffeted by the waves of perse- 
cution, had finally brought his devoted crew to a safe 
harbor. There, in breathing the air of peace and 
quiet, they might pursue, undisturbed, the work of 
their own sanctification and of their intellectual im- 
provement, thus preparing themselves for the double 
duties and obligations of the good religious and the 
intelligent teacher. St. Yon also served as an asylum 
to which the Venerable^s disciples could from time 
to time retire to renew their fervor, and to strengthen 
themselves by the examples of their holy Founder. 

This new establishment was also to offer the 
Venerable the opportunity of realizing an idea 
which he had long cherished, but which, in obedi- 
ence to a law he had prescribed himself, he deferred 
till the will of God would manifestly indicate that he 
should undertake its accomplishment. In establish- 
ing training-schools, the Venerable had supplied the 
smaller districts with competent teachers ; his pre- 
paratory novitiate had furnished him some of his 
best subjects, and the Sunda}' lecture-course in Paris 
had been of incalculable service to intelligent and 
industrious young men. He w^as now to organize a 
fourth class of institutions, which, in its results, has 
been most beneficial to French society. 

He had scarcely been settled at St. Yon when 
many of the principal families of Rouen and Darnetal 
requested him to admit their sons as boarders, and 
to take full control of their education. The pro- 
position was acceptable in more than one sense. La 
Salle had long entertained the desire of establishing 



the Ven. 7. B, be La Salle. iog 

such a school : moreover, the expenses under which 
he was placed rendered it necessary to realize his 
idea at an early day. Besides, the location was all 
that could be desired for such an institution, and he 
had had his disciples long enough under his care 
and instruction to enable him justly to undertake 
the higher education of young men. The boarding- 
school established to receive the fifty young Irish 
gentlemen had already given him considerable ex- 
perience, which he now sought to employ for the 
benefit of others. St. Yon was such a spot as the 
Seraphic St. Francis or the dear Saint Mary Mag- 
dalen de Pazzi would have delighted to frequent. 
There they would have found flowers in abundance 
which they might gently caress, telling them not to 
cease preaching the love of God. The Venerable 
de La Salle too was an ardent admirer of nature, and 
he often spent an agreeable hour in trimming the 
trees that guarded the enclosure. His children also 
found innocent amusement in the healthy exercise 
of gardening. The vast grounds attached to the 
villa rendered it quite easy to admit students, 
without fearing that they would interfere in any 
way with the recollection in which he desired his 
novices to live : for this was his first consideration. 
Such reasons were decisive. The Venerable de 
La Salle therefore wrote to those who applied, 
expressing his willingness to accept the care of their 
sons. '' It was quite agreeable to him," says Blain, 
** and he opened his home with pleasure to all those 
who were sent to be educated." Maillefer adds 
that the number of boarders sent was so great. 



2IO TJ'ie Life and Work of 

that he was obliged to form a college apart from the 
novitiate. " In the ideas of the holy Founder this 
establishment was also to be pecuniarily beneficial 
to the Brothers of St. Yon. *^ You complain/' he 
writes to the procurator-general, *' that the novitiate 
is very poor : I believe that the means which God 
wishes us to employ is to take youths as boarders, to 
instruct and educate them properly.'' "^ How well 
this idea of his was realized, his biographers have 
proved. They all agree in representing the institu- 
tion he established as a most efficient and successful 
undertaking. 

'' Whatever may be the humility of the saints, 
the good they do cannot long remain hidden. The 
reputation which the Venerable man and his dis- 
ciples had acquired, spread abroad, and it was 
correctly thought that such men should not limit 
themselves to the direction of parish schools. It 
was therefore proposed that they take charge of 
boarders. M. de La Salle never refused to do any 
good within his sphere, when proposed to him. 
He received such youths as were sent him by 
parents who could not conveniently keep them at 
home. He placed them under the direction of a 
skilful and learned Brother, and gave them regu- 
lations suited to their age and capacity. In a short 
time such results were obtained as astonished the 
parents and their friends." f The idea was new in 
France. The course of studies was novel. Every- 
thing that this educational genius inaugurated bore 
the impress of his originality. He always found a 

* ** I.ettres de M. de La Salle." t Ravelet, p. 361. 



The Ven, y. B, De La Salle. 21 1 

means of placing- things on a new basis. There 
were numerous educational establishments in which 
the higher branches were taught in his day, but 
no one saw through their real character better than 
he. Perceiving that every grade of school, from 
the primary up, laid undue stress upon the study 
of Latin, he resolved to inaugurate a system better 
calculated to fit young men for the higher business 
pursuits. For this purpose, he established a course, 
which, reversing this order of things, and laying 
no stress upon the ancient classics, gave undivided 
attention to the literature of the vernacular, the 
fine arts and the sciences. " The servant of 
God,*' says F. Lucard, "proposed, b}^ a course of 
serious study, to prepare young men who would 
frequent these boarding-schools for all careers and 
professions in which the knowledge of Latin was 
not requisite. With this view, he prepared for his 
disciples a course of studies such as had not existed 
in France thus far. We have been enabled to form 
a correct idea of the extent to which these studies 
were pursued, by an attentive reading of the regu- 
lations and of the manuscripts of some of the 
professors in the earliest boarding-schools.*' "^ 



*And in support of this assertion, he refers to the following documents : 

1. Regulation for the boarding-schools of St. Yon and Marseilles. 
{^Archives of the Regime.^ 

2. Notes on the daily regulation of St. Yon in 1742. {Archives 0/ 
the Department of the Seine-Inferieure.) 

3. Papers concerning the course of hydrography in the boarding- 
school of Nantes. {Archives of the Department of the Loire- Inferieure,) 

4. Course of Literature in MS. by Brother Olivier. {Archives of the 
Rigime.) 



2 1 2 The Life and Work of 

"In establishing this new department in his 
society, the Venerable de La Salle was directed by 
those broad and intelligent views which had inspired 
him in the founding of the training and Sunday 
lecture-schools/* * and his first care was to make 
the students good and inteUigent Christians. He 
began by instructing them thoroughly in the cate- 
chism, and in the principal events of sacred history, 
which two branches were a subject of daily explana- 
tion. While anxious to form intelligent scholars in 
secular sciences, he was aware that religion is the 
warmth which gives life and light in the use of all 
other instruction, and without which learning be- 
comes a danger rather than a blessing. We are re- 
cording, and not inventing. We are speaking of 
the beginning of the eighteenth century. At that 
time this great educator and man of broad views 
had not only allowed the reading of the sacred text, 
with proper safeguards, but had required it to be 
committed to memory, and then explained by com- 
petent teachers. So true it is that, in looking to 
the example of the intelligent thinkers of the past, 
we find many questions solved which worry our 
leaders of the present. 

" Secular education at St. Yon was divided into 
two parts: the first comprised the course usually 
followed in the parish schools,*'t as founded by the 
Brothers, for even these were far in advance of 
what were then known as free schools, throughout 
France. ** This comprised the reading of French, 
Latin, and of manuscripts or registers containing 

* F. Lucard, pp. 149, 150. f Ibid, p. 150. 



The Ven, J. B. De La Salle. 213 

all classes and styles of writing, grammar, ortho- 
graphy, arithmetic and drawing. The second course 
embraced, besides these, history, geography, general 
notions of literature and of style, bookkeeping, 
natural history, and, in certain cases, hydrograph}^ ; 
also music and some of the living languages. For 
these courses the parents were obliged to pay, but 
a botanical garden and a large library were free for the^ 
use of the scholars'' ^ The method was successful ; v 
the school became known as one of the most thor- 
ough in France. Records testifying as much are 
still extant. "At St. Yon,'' says an ancient record 
still preserved at Rouen, '' they teach all that relates 
to commerce, finance, enginery, architecture, mathe- 
matics ; in a word, all that a young man can learn, 
with the exception of Latin." f It has been seen why 
this last was omitted. Even in the manner of con- 
ducting these studies. La Salle anticipated modern 
times : that manner was eclectic. Each student 
applied himself to those branches best suited to his 
talents, his inclinations, and his pursuits in life, as is 
the present custom of the University of Virginia. 

**A11 the studies of the second programme were not 
obligatory. * The prefect of the boarding-school,' 
say the regulations of St. Yon, ' will consult the 
parents ; he will make known to his colleagues the 
special studies to be pursued by their students, and 
shall agree with them as to the time that will be 
given thereto.' The Venerable de La Salle, there- 
fore, had the double merit of having conceived and 
realized the project of special courses, wherein the 

* F. Lucard. f **Arch. dep. de la Seine Inf. " 



214 '^^ ^if^ ^^^ Work of 

instruction given would be in harmony with the 
wants of certain localities, and the true needs of the 
students. 

" His was also the honor of surrounding these 
courses with such conditions as were proper to 
secure their success, under the twofold relations of 
morality and intelligence. Celebrated thinkers in 
Germany have complained that their gymnasiums 
or lyceums have become hotbeds of irreligion and 
servility. The boarding-schools established by the 
Venerable de La Salle have multiplied in the hands 
of his disciples, but all were in the last century, 
and have continued since to be, schools wherein 
respect is prominent, order a requisite, and religion 
the mistress. The cause is easily determined. In- 
struction was not a dead letter with the Venerable 
de La Salle. He employed it as a means to do good, 
but gave his disciples the full right to harmonize 
this instruction with the needs of special times and 
places, causing it to progress with the onward march 
of science and industry; but his essential aim was 
to create, in the boarding-schools directed by his 
disciples, as well as in their parish schools, estab- 
lishments wherein Christian education would be 
imparted. To be convinced of what is here ad- 
vanced, it is only necessary to read the regulations 
established for the proper direction of St. Yon. 
Several contain wise prescriptions proper to make 
the studies flourish ; in others we perceive that all 
has been foreseen to protect the innocence of youth, 
through the influence of a watchful and attentive 
discipline. Thus evil was prevented, or cured upon 



The Ven. J, B, De La Salle. 215 

its earliest appearance/' ^ We here republish a few 
of these regulations : — 

** At the extremity of each dormitory there is a 
little oratory dedicated to the Most Blessed Virgin, 
which one of the most pious scholars decorates on 
the principal feasts. Each morning, before leaving 
the dormitory, the scholars shall kneel and say the Sub 
tuum, and the invocation, Sancta Maria Immaculata, 

** When the morning prayer is concluded, the 
students will proceed to the reading of manuscripts 
the recitation of catechism and of grammar: if any 
scholar, through his fault, shall not have given satis- 
faction in these branches, before Mass, he shall be 
deprived of recreation. This correction is imposed 
upon all those who will voluntarily have omitted, 
or badly performed, their class duties. On certain 
days the rules of politeness will be explained. One 
master will have control of this department. 

** All the general evolutions of the scholars must 
be executed with order and in silence ; the students 
will walk one after the other ; a Brother will be 
placed at the head of the rank, and another at the 
end. If needed, a third or a fourth Brother may be 
employed in securing order. 

" In public promenades the students shall be ranged 
three by three, which is much wiser and more pru- 
dent than placing them two by two. 

" When the scholars have reached the play-ground, 
they shall be divided into three sections, the young 
men, the juniors, and the small children. The 
Brother in charge of the last class will be very 

* F. Lucard, Vie, p. 151. 



2l6 The Life and Work of 

vigilant, owing to their giddiness and exposure to 
accidents. 

" In winter, if the weather be disagreeable on the 
holidays or during evening recreations, the students 
will amuse themselves in the class-rooms. They will 
be required to speak in a low tone of voice, and they 
may play dominos, checkers, or other games that 
are not noisy. They may also read interesting and 
instructive books. 

" On promenade days a conference will be made 
to the students instead of spiritual reading. Those 
who appear inattentive or distracted must be par- 
ticularly questioned. 

'* As the principal duty of the masters is to form 
the students to the Christian virtues, they will be 
careful to give them the example of perfect union 
among themselves ; and piety, justice, evenness of 
temper and zeal must be manifest among them, to 
form their students to the virtues necessary in 
society, and likewise to develop their talents accord- 
ing to the state which they are to embrace. 

** The masters will in vain strive to gain the esteem 
and the good-will of their students, unless these 
latter perceive that religion, justice and kindness 
direct all their teachers* actions, and render them 
irreproachable. 

** Every Wednesday and Saturday the prefect and 
the professors will meet to exchange ideas in regard 
to the studies, and also to determine the names of 
such as may have deserved to be kept from recre- 
ation the following days.'** 

• Riglement de St. Yon. 



TJu Ven. J. B. De La Salle. 217 

In reading these regulations, without giving the 
date of their publication, one would suppose that 
they were the production of some director who had 
examined a number of similar programmes, and had 
extracted what was best in each. 

They are replete with good sense. They show 
rare insight into human nature. They speak of a 
fatherly care, and a tender respect for youth. The)'- 
leave nothing untouched. The direction of the 
outward deportment is attended to, as well as that 
of the moral sentiments. All this forethought and 
accuracy is the more remarkable when we remem- 
ber that we are quoting, not from a regulation of 
to-day or yesterday, but from an original document 
of nearly two hundred years ago. 

Religion presided at all the exercises. Pious con- 
fraternities kept up the fire of devotion, and the 
example of earnest professors made up the sum of 
influences which enabled the student to leave St. Yon 
full)^ prepared to meet the world and its varied 
obligations and responsibilities. 

Each year's experience has confirmed the wis- 
dom of these regulations, and the superiors-general 
who have succeeded La Salle have been careful 
to preserve them intact. Brother Agathon, one of 
the most distinguished among these generals, says : 
*• After having examined these regulations of the 
boarding-school at St. Yon, we hereby approve 
them, and wish that they be continued in force 
without alteration, addition or abridgment, for they 
have been established by M. de La Salle, and con- 
tinued by our predecessors, as fit to produce great 

10 



2i8 The Life and Work of 

good. We therefore wish that they be preserved 
in their entirety, and that no change be made save 
by our written authority or that of our successors, 
who, for good reasons, may deem proper to alter 
something therein.** 

The success which attended St. Yon naturally 
£^alled for similar establishments elsewhere. Prior 
to the French Revolution of 1798, they were ver)^ 
numerous. Contemporaneous testimony to the fact 
is on record. '' Boarding-schools,*' says a writer 
in 1792, ''have always been numerous among the 
Brothers. They have been approved, protected and 
patronized, as useful to all branches of commerce.** * 
The fact had a legal recognition in France. In the 
letters-patent granted the institute by Louis XV, it 
is formally stipulated: '' We permit the Brothers,** 
savs this document, '' to receive such boarders as 
present themselves of their own accord.'* The manu- 
script Rules, bearing date of 171 7, two years prior 
to the death of their saintly framer, contain this 
clause : '' The Brothers may open boarding-schools 
in the buildings attached to the novitiate, or in a 
structure destined for the purpose, when the supe- 
rior, with the advice of his assistants, shall judge 
this necessary.**:]: As early as 1751, they had be- 
come so numerous that it was decreed in General 
Chapter that no others should be opened without 
grave reasons.f With the Revolution came the dis- 
solving of the society, the scattering of documents, 

* **ld6e g6n6rale de I'lnstitut des Frdres des Ecoles Chr^tiennes," 
p. 34. Imprim6 a Angers, 1792. 

t Archives du Regime. Regies MS. ^ 171 7- 

X Ibid. Chap. Gen. de 1 751, 7^ seance. Art, l« 



The Vert. J, B. De La Salle. 219 

the breaking off from the old traditions, and the 
subsequent misunderstandings in reference to this 
important subject.* 

The interest which La Salle felt in this important 
enterprise did not prevent him from devoting proper 
and constant attention to his other communities. 
Brother Barthelemy was placed at the head of the 
novitiate ; another learned and experienced Brother 
was given charge of the boarding-school ; Brother 
Ponce took the direction of the parochial schools in 
Rouen. He had already distinguished himself in 
the management of the classes in Paris. Occasion- 
ally the holy Founder supervised their work ; and 
his counsels enabled his sons to prosper beyond 
their fondest anticipations. 

St. Yon had quite a number of students as early 
as 1706, and the pastor of the parish, Abbe Hecquet, 
desired to exercise his parochial duties in their 
behalf. We shall learn in another chapter of the 
agreement which was concluded in this respect. 
Gratitude was one of the most shining qualities in 
the character of M. de La Salle. He never felt 
that he had done enough for any favor that had 
been shown him. He naturally was more than 
gratified with the result of the institution at St. 
Yon, and, to mark his appreciation, he opened a 
parochial school at the expense of the Brothers. 
The funds which had previously been employed in 

* After speaking of the Brothers' College at Passy, a great authority 
on educational matters says: *' France enjoyed these beneficial institu- 
tions before the Revolution. Rouen, Rheims, Saint-Omer, Nancy, Car- 
cassonne, Montpelier, and many other cities, had similar colleges, and 
were indebted for them to the zeal and devotedness of the Brothers." 
(Mgr. Dupanloup, De PEdi^ation, t. i, p. 283.) 



220 The Life and Work of 

paying lay teachers, were now given to the city to 
be distributed in charity. The school was opened 
in the same populous quarter in which a grateful 
people has recently erected the beautiful statue of 
this benefactor of society. 

During a certain number of years the college of St. 
Yon received only such scholars as were morally 
beyond reproach ; but the reputation the institution 
had acquired was such, that many parents requested 
the holy Founder to admit young men whose con- 
duct had not been satisfactory. La Salle consented, 
but kept these young people's apartments separate 
from the boarding-school proper. These were sub- 
jected to severer discipHne; and as their derelic- 
tions had often been the result of thoughtless levity 
and bad example rather than of ill-will, a few months 
under the influence of virtuous masters, in an atmo- 
sphere of piety, with no sights save the green fields 
and the smiling gardens about them, sufficed to 
work a complete change in their character. 

M. de Pontcarre, president of the parliament of 
Rouen, continued his warm friendship to the 
Brothers of St. Yon. After the fatigues of par- 
liament, he found rest in the solitude of the place, 
away from the agitating scenes of political life. 
He was wont to walk in the garden, where his 
Venerable friend had appropriated a certain alley 
for his sole use. There he matured his plans, 
and strengthened that wisdom that made him 
the chosen leader of men. Seeing the influence 
which M. de La Salle's sons had upon the giddy 
young people who were confided to them, he 



The Ven. J. B. De La Salle. 221 

bethought him of asking the servant of God to take 
a certain number of persons who had even been 
condemned to some term of punishment. He saw 
that there was also room for another class of 
persons in St. Yon. Much has been said of the 
lettres de cachet. They were secret orders for 
privately withdrawing from society a dangerous 
member, on whom the law might take hold, and 
more effectually destroy. They were intended to 
save the honor of families of distinction, by silently 
placing members belonging to them beyond the 
power of sullying their name by a criminal record. 
As they depended solely upon the will of the king, 
they were subject to great abuse. *' Undoubtedly," 
says Beaurepaire, '' they were greatly abused ; but 
in the generality of cases the letters of the king 
were directed against the insane, or they struck, in 
their personal interest, or in that of a name or an 
order whose honor they sought to save, parties 
whom ordinary justice might have treated much 
more severely than did the good pleasure of the 
king.*'*^ The objects of these letters M. Pontcarre 
proposed to La Salle also to accommodate. This 
could not well be done by creating an establishment 
distinct from that founded for young men of dissi- 
pated lives, but both might be merged in one, by 
dividing that one into two distinct divisions, namely : 
those who were decidedly vicious, and those who 
showed simply weakness of character, but at the 
same time gave evidence of serious efforts to reform. 
The former were confined in separate rooms, while 

* Notice sur les Maisons de Force, p. 4. 



24^ The Life and Work of ' 

the latter were permitted to work and recreate them- 
selves together during several hours of the day. 
The plan worked admirably. On their first entrance 
all were subjected to the severest discipline, but it 
Relaxed in proportion to their reform. They were 
given good books to read ; they were instructed in 
the French language and literature, and in mathe- 
matics ; the younger members whose means were 
liot independent were taught trades, and workshops 
were set up for them on the grounds ; all were en- 
couraged in the innocent amusement of rearing sing- 
ing-birds and trailing flowers upon their window 
railings. This institution flourished till toward 
the end of the eighteenth century. In 1777 it num- 
bered seventy-seven, twenty-nine of whom were 
placed there for mental derangement. ** These 
gentlemen,'' says an ancient manuscript of St. 
Yon, " were in a great measure persons of quality ; 
some of them members of eminent families, officers, 
lawyers, priests, religious, merchants, and some 
giddy youths. There were also several insane.*' But 
La Salle did not have these men merely instructed 
in letters and trades ; he did not establish schools 
and workshops simply for their own sake: these 
were only means to a higher aim. Those men 
were to be reclaimed. To this point he bent all his 
energies. Exhortations and conferences, spiritual 
readings made every evening after recreation,* 
the sacraments and prayer, were all resorted to, 
in order to elevate the thoughts and aspirations 
of those unfortunate ones. Nor did they remain 

• Coutumier de la Pension de Force de St, Yon. 



The Ven. J, B. De La Salle. 223 

unsuccessful. " It is inconceivable/* says an 
eye-witness, " how many perverted people became 
converted in this manner : how many rebellious 
or unruly youths learned to become modest and 
submissive ; how many returned to duty and virtue. 
The most of those who were confined therein 
proved, in their subsequent conduct, the power and 
the goodness of the education they had received/'"^ 

Thus do we find St. Yon the most complete, and, 
in the diversity of work done, the most general in- 
stitution in France. In one part is the novitiate ; 
in another is the college ; in a third place the 
prisoners' home ; in a fourth the workshops ; out- 
side, a free school for poor children. f With one 
other establishment it would have embodied all the 
kinds of institutions that the genius of La Salle 
created : there was still wanting the normal school. 
His earliest and most authentic biographer tells us 
that, in concert with the first Brothers, he 
conceived the project of endowing St, Yon with a 
normal school for the education of lay teachers, but 
unknown obstacles interfered with the generous 
project.:]: As it was, the institution had become 
famous. Tourists spoke of entering the famous house 
of St. Yon.§ And now that St. Yon has established 
an enviable reputation, envy and jealousy begin to 
buzz abroad strange reports of its management. 

It was in 1708 that these rumors came to a crisis. 

* P^re Blain, «' Vie de M. de La Salle." 
t See the plan of St. Yon in the Appendix. 
X P^re Blain, '^Vie de M. de La Salle/' p. 279. 

} Notes ei Remarques sur touies les Villes de la Haute Normandie, 
(MS. Bibl. Rouen.) 



224 ^'^^^ Life and Work of 

La Salle was then sick in bed. The grumblers on this 
occasion were old-time people, who regarded with 
a suspicious eye all the innovations which this edu- 
cational genius was making upon their traditional 
notions of matters pertaining to youth. They de- 
posed before the mayor that the whole management 
was wrong. The mayor was both timid and prudent. 
He did not wish to act without advice. The first per- 
son to whom he communicated the late deposition, 
happened fortunately to be. President Pontcarre. 
The latter immediately told him : " Instead of charg- 
ing others to make an inquiry, let us both go there 
together ; you will then be able to verify for yourself 
the facts charged against the institution, and inform 
yourself of the wise government and prudent econ- 
omy of the new estabHshment." They proceeded 
to the house together, and found the Venerable in 
his bed, in the most uncomfortable room in the build- 
ing. Ic was damp and bare. The only furniture it 
contained was the bed on which he lay, a table 
made of deal boards, two chairs and a crucifix. 
President Pontcarre announced the object of their 
visit. "You have been deceived, sir," said the 
Venerable de La Salle to the mayor ; " our house 
is not as badly managed as is represented. All 
our Brothers are occupied ; but we assign each the 
office suited to his capacity.'' After entering into 
details of the workings of the various departments, 
he told the mayor to go and see for himself, and 
judge of the spirit animating pupils and profes- 
sors. Both visitors went through all parts of the 
house, and when they returned to the room of 



The Ven. J, B. be La Salle. 2i% 

the superior, the mayor expressed both astonish- 
ment and satisfaction at the order and efficiency 
with which every part of the varied system was 
carried out. On their leaving, M. Pontcarr6 
remarked: ''Did not I tell you, Mr. Mayor, that 
you would return from St. Yon much more 
satisfied than you went there P""^ Complaints, 
thereafter, broke at the feet of this good mayor like 
waves upon the rock. He had learned more than 
hearsay : he had seen. 

♦ F. Lucard, " Vie de M. de La Salle," t. ii, p. 5, 2°»« edition. 



St. Yon, even after two centuries, possesses all the traits we give it 
!n the description. During the great Revolution^ it was confiscated 
from the Brothers, and is now (1876) used as an insane asylum for 
women. The Sisters of St. Joseph are in charge, and preserve, as 
far as possible, the marks of its ancient purposes. The Novices' Chapel 
is still in a fair state of identity, and the main buildings are intact. 
The chapel planned by the Venerable, and built by the Brothers, 
is srill in existence. 

See plan of the establishment on the following page. 



The Ven. J. B. De La Salle. 22jr 



CHAPTER VIII. 

Troubles in Paris. — ^The Writing-Masters. — Parliament refuses to sustain 
the Venerable's Appeal. — St. Sulpice Schools temporarily closed. — The 
Brothers return. — Schools in Mende and Alais. — Protestant Scholars 
received. — Foundations in Grenoble, Valreas and St. Denis. — Brother 
Joseph named Visitor. — The Venerable visits his Communities. — 
Assembly at St. Yon. — Brother Gabriel and the Roman Mission. — 
Famine in 1 709. — The Novitiate brought to Paris. — M. Helvetiusand 
the sick Brothers at St. Sulpice. — Brother Barth^lemy. — The Brothers 
in Moulins and Boulogne, — The Abbe-Clement Difficulty. — The 
Bishop of Arignon. — The Venerable ill at Vans. — FF. Henri and 
Nicolas. — M. de La Salle returns to Marseilles. 

While the Brothers of Rouen, and those of St. 
Yon in particular, were thus enjoying the most 
profound peace, their companions in Paris were 
again the objects of persecution. It was evident 
that the evil genius of all baleful influences had 
determined to drive the new teachers from their 
strongholds in the capital. The more anxious M. de 
La Salle appeared to secure the perpetuity of these 
schools, the more unstable seemed the ground upon 
which they were erected. The reputation which 
these parochial schools had won, especially that of 
St. Sulpice, was the great crime for which they were 
attacked. The writing-masters and their sympa- 
thizers believed that it was useless to strive longer in 
their profession, if the Brothers continued to receive 
scholars whose parents were not poor, and who 



228 The Life and Work of 

otherwise would have been obliged to patronize the 
secular establishments. 

The Brothers* great fault was their success. This 
the writing-masters could no longer quietly endure. 
They had recourse to their usual methods, and avail- 
ing themselves of the plea that the Brothers were 
not legally recognized, summoned them before the 
court. La Salle refused to appear, and even dis- 
regarded the sentence which had been pronounced 
against him by the lower court. He instructed his 
Brothers to continue their classes as usual. This was 
made an additional crime, and we find the following 
memorial prepared by the plaintiffs : " They (the 
Brothers) continued, from the first of September, 
1704, to receive the children of the wealthy in 
various quarters of the city, where they taught 
these children publicly. The masters of the primary 
schools declare that this is very prejudicial to their 
interests ; they thus see themselves deprived of 
their best scholars, the children of distinguished 
families, which prevents them from earning a liveli- 
hood : and this they are willing to declare in open 
court." 

The sympathy which the Brothers had already 
acquired gave this trial a certain notoriety abroad, 
and the attorney-general at Paris prepared a paper 
on such communities as had not received letters- 
patent. This he presented to Louis XIV. 

The enemies of La Salle spoke of him in their 
memoir as the "so-called superior of the would-be 
Brothers of the Christian Schools.** When Louis 
XIV asked for information on this point, Cardinal 



The Ven, J, S. De La Salle. 229 

de Noailles was happy to inform the prince that, so 
far from being an intruder, M. de La Salle had been 
recognized as superior of a regularly constituted 
community, since he and his predecessor, Mgr. de 
Harlay, had approved the society. The appeal 
which La Salle made to parliament was left for two 
years without being acted upon, and this gave his 
disciples some repose. It was during this interval 
that he set on foot the college and schools of Rouen. 
But his enemies, fearing that further delay would 
prove detrimental to their cause, took measures 
similar to those which they had previously pursued. 
In the August of 1705 they proceeded in a body to 
the schools of St. Sulpice ; they insulted the Brothers, 
they drove away every child having an appearance 
of being possessed of home comforts ; they carried 
away the school furniture, and would even have 
sold it, were it not for the energetic opposition of 
the school of St. Placide.* When the Venerable 
de La Salle, who was then in St. Yon, had read the 
letter detailing these injuries, he said : " God be 
blessed. If our work be of men, it will fall ; but if it 
be of God, the world will league against it in vain. 
Their attacks will but strengthen the foundations, 
and render its services more durable and efficacious." 
As soon as he could possibly leave, he hastened to 
Paris, where his children impatiently awaited him. 
No sooner had he seen the condition of affairs than 
he perceived that there was no hope under the cir- 
cumstances. He had relied upon the pastor of St. 
Sulpice, as it was from him alone that the Brothers 

* F. Lucard, '* Vie de M. de La Salle," t. i, 2»e edition, p. 221. 



^30 The Life and Work of 

held their contested rights ; but his efforts in this 
direction were of no avail. "The Brothers/' says 
F. Lucard, " had for their defence but the affection 
of their pupils and the confidence of families: glori- 
ous and blessed arms, but powerless before the law 
to deliver them from the hands of enemies thirsting 
for their destruction."^ On the fifth of Februar}^ 
1706, parliament refused to entertain La Salle's 
appeal, and forbade him or his disciples to hold any 
school without the authorization of the inspector of 
charity schools ; thus preventing him from carrying 
out his intentions, and threatening to place the 
schools, even if continued, under the direction of 
persons who understood neither the Brothers nor 
their method, and who were not disposed to under- 
stand the one or the other. The Venerable de La 
Salle had made every sacrifice except that of prin- 
ciple : this he refused to yield. It would have been 
a violation of the promise he had made never to 
do anything merely to secure the protection of 
human authority. The schools of St. Sulpice were 
therefore closed, over a thousand children were 
reluctantly sent adrift, and the masters distributed 
among the various communities, where they were 
much needed, and in which their assistance was 
productive of great good. 

That the Brothers might not easily return to St. 
Sulpice, other teachers were sought ; but their 
number was so small, and among these so few gave 
proof of the zeal and intelligence of those who had 
a few months previously been allowed to retire, that 

• F. Lucard, "Vie de M. de La Salle,'* t. i, 2™® edition, p. 222. 



The Ven. y, B, De La Salle. 2^1 

a spirit of discontent soon became manifest among 
the people. God was also pleased to touch the 
heart of M. Chetardie, who had not defended the 
Brothers in their late difficulties with all the zeal 
that his former energy would have given reason to 
expect. He wrote to the Venerable Founder, asking 
that all past differences be forgotten, and that the 
Brothers be returned to his parish. The latter 
was too humble to ask for any further apology, and 
he hastened to return the twelve teachers who had 
been taken from St. Sulpice. An arrangement was 
made by which any further disturbance was pre- 
vented. This reopening took place in the month 
of October, 1706; and the marks of affection and 
gratitude shown by the pupils and their parents 
more than compensated for the Brothers* past suffer- 
ings. Far from seeking to avoid meeting M. de 
La Ch6tardie, La Salle took the earliest opportunity 
to show that he entertained toward him no harsh 
feelings. He assisted the Brothers in reorganizing 
the classes, and thus proved himself superior to 
those little piques and jealousies upon which small 
minds feed. 

As usual, the Brothers received all scholars that 
presented themselves, without asking any questions 
as to their position. 

" We cannot too highly praise the wise and intelli- 
gent firmness displayed by the Venerable in this 
delicate aflfair. It contributed not only to establish 
the liberal principle upon which parochial schools 
were henceforth to be founded, but, by bringing 



23^ The Life and Work of 

about a settlement between the conflicting rights 
of pastors and private teachers, constant litigation 
was thus brought to a satisfactory termination. 
The settlement arrived at was, that in all that re- 
ferred to parochial schools the masters were to 
depend solely upon the pastor/' During this time 
the institute was establishing itself firmly in other 
parts of France. The novitiate at St Yon received 
a large number of postulants, and thus the Vener- 
able Founder was enabled to accede to some of the 
many requests he received to send his children into 
other dioceses. Among the earliest to receive his 
attention was the city of Mende. Mgr. de Piencourt, 
bishop of that city, was already in the decline of a 
life which had been spent in doing good. Among 
the charities that distinguished his administration, 
was the foundation of a public hospital. His intelli- 
gence and his faith taught him, however, that he had 
other obligations, perhaps more pressing than the 
care of the bodily wants of his poor. Thus far his 
schools had not been a success, and, before leaving 
this world, he desired to place them upon a satisfac- 
tory basis. He wrote to the Venerable de La Salle, 
and in a few days had the happiness of raising his 
hands in benediction over the kneeling form of good 
Brother Ponce, who was sent to prepare the mission. 
Soon after the venerable prelate wrote to the servant 
of God in the following terms : ** I cannot bless God 
too much for having inspired you to train school- 
masters to instruct youth, and to form them to 
Christian piety. It is impossible to be more con- 
tented than we are with the Brother you have sent 



The Ven, J. B. De La ^dlle. 233 

us. We would be very grateful if you could send 
us another, who will be expert in arithmetic and 
penmanship, for it is thus we hope to attract all 
the children, and be enabled to give them the first 
impressions of Christian piety. On my part, they 
will find all the protection that I can possible give 
them, so that they will have reason to be quite happy 
in this city.*' Two Brothers were sent, and M. de 
Piencourt had the consolation of seeing his work 
fairly inaugurated. Fearing that unforeseen circum- 
stances might interfere with the prosperity of the 
schools after his death, he gave the Brothers a 
house, and established a fund for their maintenance. 
The Brothers were next urgently solicited to 
establish a school in Alais. This city had been, till 
within a short time, included in the jurisdiction of 
the Bishop of Nimes ; but Louis XIV, seeing that it 
was one of the strongholds of heresy, as the best 
way to counteract the evil, made it an episcopal see. 
M. Maurice de Saulx, superior of the royal missions, 
was consecrated its first bishop. It was Innocent 
XII who sent the Bulls. M. Merez, vicar-general of 
the new diocese, ably assisted his zealous prelate, 
and knowing that evil, to be counteracted, must be 
attacked in its source, resolved to begin with the 
instruction of the children. After consultation, it 
was determined to invite M. de La Salle to send 
some of his disciples. M. Merez had been a col- 
lege companion of the Venerable Founder, and 
believed that this would be in his favor. From the 
letter he sent, we extract this passage : " I do not 
know if my name is still familiar to you, or if you 



2 34 The Life and Work of 

at all remember me, but I have not forgotten you ; 
and I recollect quite well having seen you at St. SuU 
pice. You were then a canon of Rheims; this was 
in 1671. I have learned that you have since 
resigned your canonry, and that you devote your- 
self to every good work ; and, among others, that 
you have formed a communit}^ of teachers who do 
much good wherever they are established. They are 
greatly needed here, where we can scarcely find 
Catholics to whom we may confide the direction 
of youth. We desire some sent immediately to Alais. 
We wish to destroy heresy, and to reestablish the 
Catholic religion. The task is great, and we need 
good laborers. I have recourse to you, and ask for 
some of your disciples. Pere Beaucharap has 
greatly praised those he has seen in Avignon and 
in Marseilles.*' , 

This letter gave great joy to the Venerable 
Founder. He perceived that he was still remem- 
bered bv his schoolmates; and his heart exulted at 
the thought that his children were invited to take 
part in the conversion of those who had strayed 
from the one true fold. He sent two experienced 
teachers, who were received by M. Saulx, who pre- 
sided at the opening of the school, in the month of 
October, 1707. He obtained an annual stipend for 
them from Louis XIV, and named the humble begin- 
ning *'The Royal School." In a few months the 
number of Brothers was increased, and M. Saulx 
addressed the Venerable de La Salle the following 
letter : " Your teachers give us every satisfaction. 
I have the pleasure to thank you for having sent 



The Ven, y. B. De La Salle. 23^ 

them, and I wish you to give us a greater number. 
I am doing, and will do, all in my power in their 
favor, for they are accomphshing incalculable good.** 

The Brothers of Alais were also given, in their 
mission, a very delicate part to perform. The au- 
thorities required Calvinist parents to send their 
children to the '' Christian Schools.'* The spirit of 
the children thus forced to attend classes to which 
they and their parents were opposed, may easily be 
imagined. The Brothers did all in their power to 
lessen the difficulty for their little Protestant friends, 
and in a short time had the gratification to learn from 
the lips of their former enemies, the Calvmistic 
parents, how pleased they were at the progress 
their children were making, and with the mild 
manner in which they had been treated. 

The city of Grenoble was the next field in which 
the disciples of La Salle displayed their zeal. An 
association, consisting of the principal ecclesiastics 
and laymen of the city, determined to secure the 
services of the new masters. MM. de Saleon and 
Canel were appointed to select the teachers. '' We 
are certain,'* said they in reply, ** that none will 
answer our purposes as well as the Brothers of the 
Christian Schools. We have seen the results of 
their work at St. Sulpice.** Instead of writing, 
these two ecclesiastics took the wiser part of seeing 
the Venerable de La Salle, who received them very 
kindly, gave them a plan for the building which 
they agreed to erect, and the two Brothers were 
sent in the month of September, 1707, to the great 
joy of the parents. As the number of pupils 



236 Tl^e Life and Work of 

became too considerable for this establishment, two 
Brothers were shortly sent to open a school in a 
different part of the city. 

A community was established about the same 
time at Valr^as, and the bishop gave his own resi- 
dence for the use of the Brothers.* The following 
year, after reiterated demands, two Brothers were 
sent to open a school at Saint Denis. Mile, de 
Poignant left an annual income in their favor. 

To prevent the evils which might arise from so 
rapid an extension of his society, the Venerable de 
La Salle appointed Brother Joseph, with the title 
of Visitor, to inspect the communities of Guise, 
Rethel, Laon and Rheims. " This Brother loved 
regularity, good order, the advancement of the 
Brothers, and the progress of the congregation. 
Nothing cost him a thought where the glory of 
God and the good of his Brothers were in ques- 
tion. In 1708, the Venerable de La Salle made 
the general visitation of his communities of the 
North. Wherever he went, he was received with 
the greatest demonstrations of respect and affection. 
His heart was inundated with holy joy in seeing 
the virtues of which his disciples gave the example. 
The servant of God was not satisfied with seeing 
his disciples in their communities. He profited of 
the estabhshment at St. Yon to renew the spirit of 
fervor and retirement which the troubles in Paris 
might have disturbed. During the vacations he 
assembled his Brothers, and for eight days, assisted 
by several priests who accompanied him, he renewed 

♦ Lettre de M. de La Salle ^ Fr^re Gabriel. 



The Ven. J, B. De La Salle. 237 

their fervor by his exhortations, his examples, and 
the faithful observance of the rule." * 

** When the Brothers told him that they feared 
such great strictness could not be continued in the 
future, the Venerable replied that he was not re- 
sponsible for the future, but for the present, and 
that he was determined to remain faithful till the end. 
Full of these pious sentiments, he continued his 
penances and austerities to such an extent, that he 
was confined to his room with a swelling in the 
knee. After trying several remedies, it was at length 
determined to make several incisions, during which 
operation the courageous sufferer quietly read his 
breviary as though nothing were taking place.*' f 
Brother Gabriel Drolin was the only Thomas in the 
institute, when the annual retreats occurred ; but his 
Venerable father did not forget his son in the 
Eternal City. He kept up frequent correspondence 
with him, and ever acted as the kindest of fathers 
toward him. For some time Brother Gabriel had 
been tutor in the family of M. de La Bussiere, but La 
Salle wished to see him at the head of a numerous 
class. He wrote, saying that, ** after two years 
spent in Rome,'* it was time to have established a 
school. " I will be responsible for the rental of the 
house which you will occupy as a school till such 
time as Providence will otherwise provide for you,*' 
wrote the solicitous superior. At the same time he 
sent a sufficient sum to enable his distant disciple 
to carry out his instructions. In 1705, Brother 
Gabriel received the direction of a district school, 

* Ravelet, p. 361. t P. Maillefer, p. 109. 



238 The Life and Work of 

and the holy Founder, on learning of this, wrote : 
" Your letter, my very dear Brother, has given me 
great joy, because it is some time since I have heard 
from you, and because I find you at length exercis- 
ing the duties of your vocation. How delighted I 
am to learn that you have a good number of 
scholars." * This man of prayer and retiring dis- 
position also found fault with Brother Gabriel for 
spending the evenings with M. de La Bussiere. 
This, he said, could only tend to keep alive a spirit 
of vanity and worldliness. In obedience to the 
remarks thus made, the humble disciple rented a 
modest little dwelling near the school of which he 
had charge, and, as usual, he had recourse to the 
Venerable for the funds to pay the rent. " Though 
I am far from having money,'' La Salle replied, ** I 
will do all I can for you, for it grieves me to know 
that you are obliged to live so poorly. Tell me what 
I can do to remedy your impoverished condition.'* 

To encourage the somewhat disheartened Brother, 
his holy father sent him frequent letters, contain- 
ing intelligence relative to the institute. '* They have 
purchased a very fine house for our Brothers at 
Avignon, large enough to accommodate twenty 
persons. The vice-legate is our friend, and sends 
his page to the Brothers' school. Mgr. the Arch- 
bishop of Avignon, nuncio-extraordinary to France, 
and whom I know very well, has been appointed 
Archbishop of Genoa, and is to leave immediately 
for Rome, where he is to receive the cardinal's hat. 
He has promised me to protect our institute as far 

* Arch, du R6gime. 



The Veiu J, B. De La Salle. 239 

as possible/* But of all the items of news he sent 
his dear friend in Rome, none did he pen with more 
real pleasure than the following: *' Brother Albert 
informs me, from Avignon, that the Father Inquisitor 
has returned all our books, after having approved 
of them.** That, of all things, was a chief cause of 
his solicitude. To teach sound doctrine by tongue 
and pen was an object of the most scrupulous care 
with him. Thus encouraged by the paternal watch- 
fulness of the Venerable, Brother Gabriel persevered 
m his trying isolation, and ardently sighed for the 
day when he might be of service to his society with 
the authorities of the Eternal City. 

Poor as the Venerable Founder was when he 
wrote to Brother Gabriel, he was to experience 
not only the want of money, but to see around him 
a renewal of the terrible days of famine through 
which he and his had passed, when he found so 
favorable an opportunity to dispose of his patri- 
mony in behalf of starving thousands. 

In 1709, France was visited by one of the heaviest 
frosts which, till that time, had been known. The 
largest trees were rent asunder ; the most rapid 
streams were stopped in their course ; the very sea 
was ice-bound for miles along the coasts, and the 
fall wheat was killed in its growth. Whole famiUes 
were found frozen to death in their dwellings, where, 
even beside the brightest fires, the purest liquors 
were changed into ice. A terrible famine was the 
result ; for, when the spring months came with 
their warmth, the sun's rays could not revivify con- 
gealed nature. The belligerent forces which then 



240 The Life and Work of 

occupied the frontiers of France, prevented the im- 
portation of cereals from the overstocked markets 
of Holland and Germany ; and to add to the dis- 
tress, many who had laid in a stock previous to the 
intense colds, refused to dispose of their stores at 
any price. They hid their treasures, and resisted 
even the power of Louis XIV, who ordered that all 
such grain should be disposed of. To allay in part 
the intense character of the sufferings of the people, 
the king imported grain from Barbary and the 
Archipelago. He converted some of his finest 
dwellings into public bakeries, and sent his costly 
service to the Bourse. Madame de Maintenon and 
the ladies of St. Cyr gave a noble example. They 
contented themselves with the poorest kind of 
bread, while many rich persons, to imitate the illus- 
trious directress, gave largely of their means. All 
these efforts, however, were but so many drops 
taken from the ocean of misery which inundated 
France. Nobles, even, were seen going through 
the streets of Paris, pale and famine-stricken, 
asking an alms, and sometimes, driven by htmger, 
desperately menacing those from whom they de- 
manded the morsel that was to increase suffering 
by prolonging life. 

In the midst of such heartrending scenes the 
Venerable de La Salle neither lost his own con- 
fidence, nor permitted his disciples to abandon 
themselves to useless, though well-founded doubts. 
*' Blessed be God, my Brothers ! '' he cried out. '' Is 
it not His hand that afflicts us? Let our confidence 
be placed in Him ; we are the children of Providence, 



The Ven, J. B. De La Salle. 241 

He who cares for the little birds, and who protects 
the lily of the field, did not abandon us in those 
other similar days through which we have passed. 
It is from His divine hands that we will receive 
our daily bread/* In this difficult occasion La 
Salle thought it prudent to recall his novices to 
Paris, where he hoped that his old friends would 
think of them. M. de la Chetardie had procured a 
suitable dwelling for the Brothers, in 1707, and the 
holy Founder, after preparing this properI)% called 
Brother Barth61emy and his interesting family to the 
capital. Several young men asked to be admitted : 
many through sincere motives, but some, doubtless, 
to escape the famine. The servant of God admitted 
them all; and when blamed for this conduct, he 
exclaimed: *' Would it not be cruel to send them 
away in such calamitous times? If they do not all 
persevere, they will at least make a good retreat.** 
It was on one of those sad days that he wrote this 
touching epistle to one of his children who asked 
him for some little articles to distribute among the 
best boys of his class: — *' I cannot send you any 
pictures. I have not wherewith to buy bread for 
forty persons who are now in our house of St. 
Sulpice ! " " Whither are you going?** said a friend 
who met the man of God one day in the streets of 
Paris. " Alas ! ** said the good priest, '* our Brothers 
have no bread, and we are without money to pur- 
chase any. The baker refuses to give us credit: 
I am going to say Mass, that the good God may take 
pity upon us.** Touched by such a simple and 
pathetic statement, the generous friend handed hini 



242 The Life and Work of 

wherewith to meet the wants of the house for a few 
days. Other alms followed, often from unknown 
hands, and thus they were saved from perishing. 
'* How could we be abandoned?" he would ask. 
** Are we not the children of Providence ?'* 

Even in such distress he did not wish the directors 
to practise a narrow-minded economy. He wrote 
to one : *' I do not think it necessary to retrench the 
Brothers' breakfast. Here, in Paris, we eat the bread 
that is given us. The Brothers have half a pound 
at each meal, and four ounces at breakfast. I am told 
that in Avignon all the inhabitants are reduced to 
one pound per day. This allows the Brothers two 
ounces at breakfast, and five at the other meals. 
Brother Hubert, the Director of Chartres, kept up 
his courage till the death of Mgr. de Marais led him 
to believe that there was no longer possibility of 
procuring subsistence. He hastened to La Salle, to 
make known his distressing condition. " Do you 
believe in the Gospel ? '' said the holy Founder. *' I 
would willingly give my life to attest my belief,** 
replied the Brother. " Well, then, does the Gospel 
not say, 'Be not solicitous about the morrow. 
Seek first the kingdom of God, and all the rest shall 
be added thereto ' ? ** At these words Brother 
Hubert felt new confidence revive within him, and 
he hastened back to his field of labor ; and when 
he arrived, he found that charitable persons had 
already amply provided what was needed. He 
afterward remarked that from that time forth his 
community did not lack the necessaries of life."^ 

*Arch. Com. des Fr^res de Chartres. 



The Ven. J, B, De La Salle. 243 

The famine had scarcely ceased to be felt when 
the Venerable Founder met with a more trying cross 
in his path. Several of the Brothers of St. Sulpice 
were attacked with a species of scurvy, which com- 
pletely disabled them. He hastened to their assist- 
ance. Dr. Helvetius again proved himself a warm 
friend, and the Brothers were soon able to resume 
their duties. 

The joy which their cure caused was soon changed 
into sadness, for Brother Barthelemy, the Vener- 
able's right arm in the establishment of the rising 
congregation, was taken seriously ill. This good 
Brother deserves more than a passing notice here. 
Born in 1678, at Cambrai, where his father was 
a schoolmaster. Brother Barthelemy, previously 
known as Joseph Truffet, at an early age showed 
that he was destined for some important mission. 
He made his studies under the Jesuits at Douai, 
and when he had completed the course, felt himselt 
called to the religious, rather than to the ecclesias- 
tical state. Yet, to give himself time for reflection, 
he pursued his theology, which he had almost con- 
cluded, when he determined to apply for admission 
to the Trappists. Abbe de Ranee, who was then 
in charge, received the postulant, but after some 
trial was obliged to tell him that, though he certainly 
had a religious vocation, he was not destined to be 
a Trappist. '' You are called,'' said the reformer of 
La Trappe, "to do great good in another sphere." 
It is probable that M. de Ranee advised his young 
friend to enter the congregation of La Salle ; yet, 
when he was about to apply for admission, he tells 



'1 



244 The Life and Work of 

us that he felt an almost irresistible antipathy for 
his future vocation. Finally he overcame himself, 
entered, and gave such satisfaction that he was 
named Director of Novices. It was the zeal with 
which he had cared for the sick that brought upon 
him the disease under which he was then suffering. 
Its progress was watched with painful suspense by 
all the Brothers ; and La Salie implored heaven to 
spare this promising subject to the work that so 
sorely needed the services of intelligent and true 
religious. 

In the meantime Brother Barthelemy*s father 
died, and his place was offered the son. The phy- 
sicians advised that the position be accepted. The 
day had already been fixed for his departure. The 
evening previous the Venerable de La Salle spent 
several hours in prayer before the crucifix, and 
the next day, when the good Brother came, as he 
thought, to say good-by, what was his agreeable 
surprise when the Venerable Father said to him : 
** O my son ! remain with us, you will be useful ! 
Heaven wishes you to be a Brother of the Chris- 
tian Schools.'* Brother Barthelemy found himself 
clasped in the arms of the holy Founder, and both 
shed tears of joy. 

Shortly after he entirely recovered his health, and, 
as the future will show, fully realized the predictions 
of the Venerable superior. Madame de Maintenon, 
as we learn from one of de La Salle's letters, occa- 
sionally asked him to visit St. Cyr. She could have 
selected no better adviser. She even wished to 
confide to him the care of a private school she had 



The Ven, J, B, De La Salle. 245 

opened ; but he refused, because the regulation he 
had then introduced required that at least three 
Brothers should be sent in each mission. *' Com- 
munities of two Brothers would destroy our insti- 
tute/* wrote he to the director of Chartres. 

The Fathers of the Society of Jesus had, on 
several occasions, been instrumental in bringing 
the good done by the Brothers to public attention. 
Other religious orders were not less generous. In 
1710, M. I'Abbe Huchon, Lazarist, and pastor at 
Versailles, desired to have Brothers. Three were 
sent, but the number proving insufficient, as man}" 
more were obtained. M. Huchon could not be a 
true disciple of St. Vincent without admiring the 
spirit and the work of the Venerable de La Salle. 
He often took occasion to say that he deemed the 
foundation of the Brothers* school as among the best 
works of his pastorship. M. Louis Aubery, a zeal- 
ous abbe, procured similar advantages for the city 
of Moulins. He gave a very commodious house, 
which was enlarged ; and the generosity of other 
persons enabled the citizens to open their school 
on the 8th of May, 1708. The good Abb6 Aubery, 
whose device was ''V. J. en M.*' {Vive Jesus en Moi), 
** Live Jesus in me,** undertook the management of 
the school, but finding that his pastoral duties were 
incompatible with those of a teacher, he secured the 
Brothers to succeed him. 

L*Abbe Languet de Gery took particular pleasure 
in listening to the catechism taught by the Brothers, 
and at his request one of the new teachers consented 
to give a public instruction to the Sunday-school 



246 The Life and Work of 

masters, that these might learn the Brothers* method. 
Though somewhat out of his proper sphere in a 
pulpit, and before such a large audience, the good 
Brother acquitted himself with modest assurance 
and complete success, and his system was rendered 
obligatory upon the teachers. 

M. de La Cocherie, a gentleman whose large for- 
tune had been almost entirely given to the poor, 
still possessed wherewith to do some good, and 
promised that, if Brothers were sent to Boulogne, 
he would leave an annual rental in their favor. 
The bishop was then known only by his chari- 
ties.* He, too, had given his wealth, even his 
service of silver, to the poor. Under the patronage 
of these gentlemen and a certain number of friends, 
the Brothers established a house in Boulogne, which 
has since been the means of rendering important ser- 
vices to religion. About this time the Abbe Jean 
Baptiste Clement, son of a distinguished surgeon 
of Paris, called upon the Venerable, and asked him 
to take charge of special courses of study which he 
wished to establish. La Salle received the abbe 
very kindly, but told him that more good might 
be done by establishing a training-school for lay 
teachers. This was an idea he had constantly at 
heart. It possessed him on all occasions. He 
was on the continual look-out for an opportunity to 
realize it on a scale as grand as that on which he 
had realized his college course. ** M. de La Salle 
never lost sight of this great design, nor despaired 
of making it a success. He always believed that 

* He afterward became involved in the meshes of Jansenism. 



The Ven. J. B. De La Suite. 247 

something would be wanting to his institute, or that 
it would fail in rendering the Church all the services 
it should, while it was not raising, for county and 
city, masters pious and capable of giving youth the 
instruction and the education necessary for salva- 
tion/'* At last the pious educator thought his 
views would be realized beyond all expectation ; but 
Providence had otherwise disposed matters. 

The Abbe Clement was at that time about twenty- 
three years of age ; his youth rendered M. de La 
Salle more than usually prudent, though till this 
time the abbe had been known as an exemplary 
person. Of all the benefices attached to his position 
he accepted but a small sum, instructing his father 
to dispose of the rest in good works, according to 
his discretion. But La Salle's deep insight into 
human nature detected in the abbe's anxiety a cer- 
tain restlessness of character which was hidden from 
the latter's own knowledge, as well as from that of 
the world. He therefore counselled the abbe to wait 
and pray, and take no step without having calculated 
the consequences. In the vocabulary of the too 
zealous abbe there was no such word as calculation. 
His fancy was all aglow with the project. Already 
he saw it a grand success ; weekly he sent letters 
to La Salle, urging him to accept the bequest, but 
he always received the same reply: "Wait, pray, 
consult." 

Thinking that M, de La Salle was unwilling to 
transact so important an affair with a young man, 
Abb6 Clement sought and obtained the approbation 

* P^re Blain (1733), '* Vie de M. de La Salle," t. ii, p. 56. 



248 The Life and Work of 

of Cardinal de Noailles, who not only ap^proved, but 
oifered a house outside of Paris, in which to open 
the school. M. C16ment preferred one nearer the 
city, which he purchased ; and the Venerable de La 
Salle, believing that an enterprise approved by his 
ecclesiastical superiors might be undertaken with- 
out further delay, signed an agreement by which 
the training-school known as St. Denis was opened. 
Three distinguished teachers were selected by the 
holy Founder, and the new school was regulated 
according to the rules in force in other institutions 
directed by the Brothers. Cardinal de Noailles ex- 
pressed his great satisfaction at the success this school 
was attaining ; and Abb6 Clement was proud of his 
part in the good work when, quite unexpectedly, 
a storm came which the passions of the envious had 
aroused. 

The reputation acquired by M. Clement as sur- 
geon had merited for him titles of nobility from 
Louis XIV. When he consented to receive the 
honor, the king made but one condition : that he 
would not abandon his profession. The dignity 
thus acquired seemed to tell the recipient that he 
should live in greater splendor than previously ; and 
when he found that his son, the abb6, had appropri- 
ated part of the revenues of his benefices to the 
purposes of a training-school, he broke out into in- 
vectives against La Salle. Abb6 C16ment, far from 
telling the true condition of matters, pretended that 
he had been led into the negotiation by La Salle. 

Severe laws existed against those who, by dole, 
fraud or violence, extorted an assignment from bene- 



The Ven, J. B. De La Salle. ^4§ 

fici^ries, vvhether these were minors or persons of 
age : Abbe Clement and his father invoked the force 
of these laws against M. de La Salle. 

The Venerable Founder, equally pained and 
astonished, prepared a memoir, to which he added 
thirteen letters that had been written him by the 
Abb6 Clement. These papers he confided to persons 
in whose good faith and zeal he had confidence, and 
they promised to protect his interests. He then 
went upon a visitation of his communities, intend- 
ing to return to Paris in time for the trial. Though 
proofs were furnished in these papers that the car- 
dinal had given his approbation, the letters were dis- 
regarded, and La Salle, by a strange injustice, which 
the spirit of Jansenism could alone explain, was con- 
demned to lose a large sum that he had advanced to 
assist in the founding of the training-school, where- 
as another party, Rogier by name, was refunded all 
that he had lent to start the establishment. 

When the Abbe de La Salle heard of the mon- 
strous sentence that had been pronounced, he raised 
his eyes to heaven, and saying, *' God be praised ! " 
he continued his labors, leaving to Him who saves 
the flower from the force of the winds, to dispose 
of all things as would best please His holy will. 

Finding that he was the subject of so many 
contradictions in Paris, the Venerable Founder had 
already named Brother Barthelemy as director of 
the establishments in that city ; and he deemed it 
better for his institute that he should, for a while, 
hide himself from enemies who, in attacking him, 
caused his children also to suflFer. He instructed 



^50 The Life and Work of 

the new superior to write often, and to let him 
know the particulars of whatever might relate to 
the communities. Brother Ponce and his confreres 
received their holy Founder on the 27th of July, 171 1. 
Marseilles opened its doors to welcome him on the 
3d of August, and gave him hospitalit)^ till the ist 
of September. Next he visited Avignon, and the 
houses of Alais, Vans and Mende. 

The Venerable^s observations led him to believe 
that a novitiate was needed in the south of France, 
similar to that of St. Yon. The deliberations and 
negotiations for this enterprise, and his projected 
voyage to Rome, kept him some time from visiting 
Paris. That the institute might not suffer there, he 
gave Brother Barthelemy full power to administer 
its affairs, and appointed Brother Ponce to visit all 
the houses he could not personally inspect. 

In 1 71 2 he again visited the Brothers of Avignon. 
The visit brought him consolation. He heard 
nothing but eulogies of the Brothers. The arch- 
bishop used to visit the schools himself, and to spend 
whole hours in listening to the lessons that were 
given, and watching the orderly manoeuvrings of 
the scholars. At other times he would invite the 
children to his residence, to compete for the rewards 
he took pleasure in distributing. As the Brothers 
narrated all these incidents to their venerated gen- 
eral, his countenance beamed with joy, and the sight 
was more encouraging to them than his words of 
unction. 

While in Avignon, a young Brother who taught 
the primary class fell sick. '* Rest yourself,** said the 



The Ven. % B. De La Salle. ±^\ 

charitable superior ; " I will teach your class :" which 
he did, to the great edification of all the Brothers 
and of several ecclesiastics. And the Brother of 
Avignon, who transmitted to us this edifying trait, 
adds that each time a Brother fell sick the Venerable 
Founder taught his class.^ 

In spite of the fears expressed by the Brothers, M. 
de La Salle departed, to expose himself to the in- 
sults and even personal injury frequently inflicted 
by the maurauding bands that then infested the 
roads and by-ways between the large cities. 

" God be blessed !" said he, '' Providence, that 
protected me against the wicked last year, will 
again take me safely to our good Brothers of Alais, 
Vans and Mende.'' 

When he arrived at Vans he was quite ill; his 
feet were greatly swollen, for he had passed through 
a hilly country, whose roads at best were extremely 
severe upon pedestrians. The regularity and piety 
which he found at Vans repaid the pain incurred in 
the visitation. Mgr. Poncet, the Bishop of Uzes, 
was so pleased with the Brothers that he desired 
their Founder to attach them irrevocably to the 
school of Vans. This he could not promise to do. 
It was contrary to the spirit of the religious order 
of which these good Brothers were worthy members. 
It would be doing them an injustice. La Salle showed 
the good bishop that the event of a change was not 
calculated to injure the schools as much as his 
fears represented. ** Formed," said he, ** in the same 
spirit, initiated from the novitiate in the knowledii^e 

* Rep. a un Memoire^ etc. (Arch. Dep. de Vaucluse.) 



252 The Life and Work of 

and practice of the same method, the Brothers, in 
succeeding one another in class, will offer, as mas- 
ters, no other essential difference than that resulting 
from their personal character. Their dealings with 
the pupils, the programme of teaching, and the means 
of emulation, are the same ; the real differences 
might occur in their mode of application ; but these 
are so merged in identity of mind and views that they 
often escape the observation of the scholars. A few 
days suffice to accustom them to a new master.'* 
The bishop was satisfied with this reasoning. At 
the request of his lordship, the Venerable taught 
school a few days at Uzes, to initiate the young 
ecclesiastic who was then in charge of the children 
into his method. The zealous educator gladly com- 
plied. The tradition of his teaching still exists at 
its scene. 

Brothers Henri and Nicolas, who directed the 
Christian School of Mende, next were favored with 
their holy superior's company. These disciples de- 
served to have it recorded of them that ** they were 
the most famous teachers, and those under whom 
the children made greatest progress.*' At Mende 
each worthy person vied with his neighbor in the 
honors paid to the Founder of the Brothers of the 
Christian Schools. While enjoying the quiet hos- 
pitality of the good people of Mende, he was un- 
expectedly called to Marseilles. He promised to 
return soon. A school had been lately establishes 
for young Protestant converts, and he was consulted 
upon the rules and methods best calculated to make 
it succeed. 



The Ven. y. B. De La Salle. ^ i, 



OJ 



CHAPTER IX. 

lS%r. deBelzunce. — The Jansenists seek to bribe tke Venerable. — Brother 
Timothy. — Novitiate in Marseilles. — M. de La Salle persecuted. — He 
prepares a Memoir. — Desires to visit Rome. — Love for the Holy 
Father. — A Jesuit defends the Venerable's Cause. — Charity for the 
Fallen. — ^The Dominicans welcome the Venerable. — The City of Mende 
calls the holy Founder. — The Brothers of Grenoble. — Brother 
Hilarion. — ^P^re Blain, Chaplain at St. Yon. — M. de Brou interferes 
with the Brothers in Paris. — The Venerable teaches School. — He 
revises School-books. — Fr^re Ir^n^. 

In Marseilles the Venerable de La Salle was also 
edified and delighted with the good his Brothers 
were effecting. Mgr. de Belzunce, whom Pope calls 
" Marseilles* good bishop/' ^ directed the church of 
this ancient city, and under his zealous administra- 
tion heresy, which had made such sad ravages 
elsewhere, found little opportunity to spread. He 
received La Salle with affection and respect, recog- 
nizing in him a saint and an educational genius. It 
was then that the Jansenists, seeing the influence 
which M. de La Salle possessed, thought of ensnar- 
ing him. But they proceeded so stealthily that their 
intentions were for some time concealed from him. 
They protested that the time had come for the 
establishment of a novitiate in Provence, in order 

* *' Why drew Marseilles' good bishop purer breath, 
When nature sickened, and each gale was death ? ** 

Essay on Man^ iv, 107-8. 



2 54 The Life and Work of 

that subjects for the order might be educated, whd, 
knowing the manners of the Provencal youth, 
would all the more easily succeed in instructing 
them. This was a sentiment in accordance with 
the Venerable Founder's own desires. He sent for 
Brother Timothy, one of his most experienced dis- 
ciples, who was then director of Chartres, to govern 
the new establishment. This Brother was a man of 
lively faith and sterling virtue. The circumstances 
under which he went to Chartres were characteristic 
of the man. Having suffered for some time from a 
gathering at the knee, the surgeon opened it, but see- 
ing the irritated condition of the flesh, gave little 
hopes of a cure. La Salle wished to send his ailing 
disciple as director to Chartres. He expressed his 
regret to Brother Timothy that his sore knee pre- 
vented him from going, whereupon the latter, in his 
childlike faith, said: ** Bless my knee, and I shall 
start for my new destination.*' Though confused at 
the remark, the holy Founder consented, and the 
Brother left for his mission. When he reached 
Chartres he uncovered the knee to dress the wound, 
and to his surprise found the wound no longer ex- 
isted. There was not the slightest trace of infirmity 
upon the left knee ; it was quite as strong and free 
from pain as the right. '* Then,'* adds Brother 
Timothy, in his account of this occurrence, ** I was 
convinced that God had healed me through the 
touch, the blessing and the prayers of my worthy 
superior." * Called to Marseilles, he devoted his 
whole time and attention to the formation of the 

*'»Vie M. de La Salle," t. ii, p. 496. (1733.) 



The Ven. J. B. De La Salle. 2g5 

postulants, many of whom were sent by the secret 
partisans of Jansenism. 

He explained the spirit in which they should 
strive to become good Brothers of the Christian 
Schools, and also fully dilated upon the questions 
they would be required to answer before receiving 
the holy habit. They were to state that they had 
entered of their own free-will ; that no constraint 
had been used ; that they believed themselves called 
to the Brotherhood ; that they knew the rules, under- 
stood them, and were resolved to fulfil them. Ap- 
parently all went well. As La Salle became known, 
he was all the more appreciated by the people. They 
flocked around him for advice. The good bishop 
requested him to exercise the priestly functions in 
Marseilles. He even gave him power to absolve 
reserved cases. The saintly servant of God devoted 
what remained of his time not required by the 
duties incident upon the governing of his congre- 
gation, to the work of preaching, hearing confes- 
sions, and giving spiritual advice to the people. He 
everywhere did good. No one seemed more ardent 
admirers of the new apostle than those who sought 
to ensnare him. In proportion to the secret hate 
that rankled in their hearts, was their praise loud. 
Finally they grow weary of concealing their motives, 
and resolve to show their true colors. They agree 
to hold a conference, in which the disputed points of 
doctrine are to form the principal theme. At first 
guarded in their expressions, these disciples of error 
gradually unmasked themselves ; they openly de- 
rided what they were pleased to call the blind zeal of 



256 The Life and Work of 

tl-e good bishop, and, to give coloring and effect to 
their arguments, they presented the Founder of the 
Brothers of the Christian Schools as one of their 
number: '* For,*' said they, "does he not admit as 
much by assisting at our solemn discussions?*' This 
was insulting, but not surprising, to the servant of 
God. Without a moment's hesitation he arose, and 
in language borrowed from the purest sources, and 
an eloquence that the occasion created, he proved 
the fallacy of the position which he had just heard 
assumed. Never had he felt the importance of not 
being misunderstood more than on the present occa- 
sion, and never were his enemies worse confounded. 
They were surprised at his manly defence. He did 
honor to the title of which he was so proud, and 
with which he always gloried in signing documents, 
namely, that of Roman Priest, 

Then it was that his would-be friends thought 
of bribing the man they could not deceive. This 
goes to show how little they knew of his character. 
He who had voluntarily left a canonry to condemn 
himself to a life of labor among children, was not 
likely to be bought with the promise of dignity. 
He rejected with holy disdain the offer of a mitre, 
which, had he accepted in this case, would have 
crowned a traitor's head.* 

M. de Bonald, one of the greatest thinkers of this 

* *' I certify to all whom it concerns that in the year 1 7 12 our most 
Venerated father, M. J. B. de La Salle, Founder of the Brothers of the 
Christian Schools, assured me, from his own mouth, that it only de- 
pended upon himself to be bishop, which he generously refused, because 
those who made this offer were entirely opposed to the Constitution, and 
thereby wished to enlist his sentiments in their favor.** — Attestation du 
F, Bernard, 6 Mai, 1742. 



The Ven, % S. De La Salle. ^57 

age, in speaking of the congregation founded by M. 
de La Salle, has said : '' The Institute of the Brothers 
of the Christian Schools is a masterpiece of wisdom 
and of the knowledge of men/* ^ The Jansenists 
thought otherwise as soon as they ceased to hope 
that M. de La Salle could be secured to their party. 
They did all in their power to destroy the schools ; 
but they directed their attacks principally against 
the novitiate. They sought to withdraw the young 
men from it ; they told them that they had deceived 
them at first ; they said they did not like to see 
them subject to a man whose ideas were so narrow, 
and whose will was so perverse. '* Your novitiate/' 
they added, '* is only a cold grave ; you ought not 
to bury in it your youth, without profit for yourself 
and utility for your neighbor." f When such pro- 
ceedings failed of their full effect, they had recourse 
to calumny. Never was printing put to a more 
infamous purpose. They prepared a libellous pam- 
phlet, in which the faith and even the character of 
M. de La Salle were misrepresented. This they 
circulated far and wide. They hoped to be able to 
force him to quit the city : his retirement they would 
have regarded as equivalent to a victory. The Ven- 
erable de La Salle would willingly have suffered his 
character to be maligned, and said nothing about it, 
but he owed it to the faith he professed, to the insti- 
tute he directed, and to the Brothers who composed 
it, to defend himself and his doctrine. He therefore 
prepared a memoir, in which, while speaking mildly 

* 7'h/orie de POrdre Social^ 1. i, c. xx. 

t F. Lucard, "Vie de M. de La Salle/' t. ii, p. 17, 2™« edition. 



^58 The Life and Work of 

of the character of his maligners, he tore their 
doctrinal errors to shreds. His victory was com- 
plete. His friends, who had known him principally 
because of his virtues, now found, to their great 
delight, that he was one of the ablest, though most 
modest champions of the Church against the errors 
of Jansenism and its hypocritical followers. 

Rather than betray his faith, the Venerable pre- 
ferred to forego the permanency of his novitiate, 
the opening of many schools, and the friendship of 
unfortunate but powerful persons who were either 
to be his masters or his persecutors. But the scene 
of all these sufferings afterward became the theatre 
of brilliant success for the Brothers. ^' Future 
years/' says a biographer, ** repaid the ill-treatment 
of the Venerable's early trials in Marseilles : few 
cities have since done more for the institute.''*^ 

Such difficulties as we have been narrating are 
the food upon which great men, in a Christian sense, 
live : this being admitted, great indeed must have 
been the force of character possessed by the Vener- 
able de La Salle. But while he was prepared to 
suffer without a murmur so long as persecution 
touched but his own person, his tender love for the 
Brothers, the desire he had to see them in the en- 
joyment of that peace which was so necessary for 
them, — all these sentiments made him wish to shield 
his children from further persecution by removing 
what, in his humility, he believed was the cause of all 
their trials. He had already said that his children, 
like the subjects of David, were punished for the 

* De Montis, p. 137. 



The Ven. J. B. De La Salle. ^59 

sins of their master. He now felt that, if he would 
retire for a time, the storm might pass over, and, for- 
getting the chief object of attack, his enemies would 
cease to annoy the disciples. Moreover, the Vener- 
able*s heart was constantly turned toward Rome. 
Where could he better pour forth the anguish of 
his soul than at the tomb of the apostles? Who 
would give him better advice and encouragement 
than the supreme shepherd, the vicar of Christ 
upon earth? As early as 1694 he had taken counsel 
with the principal members of the society, and had 
determined that the benefits already conferred upon 
religion, and the results to be hoped for in the future, 
justified the Brothers in the hope that the Holy 
Father would deem the institute worthv of official 
recognition. It had, indeed, been approved by 
several bishops, but this was limited to the extent 
of the dioceses over which these prelates presided. 
The law of the Church, moreover, allowed none 
save the Sovereign Pontiff to give an absolute recog- 
nition : such as might be accorded by individual 
prelates was always subject to the revisal and 
sanction of his Holiness.*^ The Brothers and their 
holy Founder had also decided, in this assembly of 
1694, to establish a school in Rome : thus they hoped 
to impregnate the entire institute with that vigor- 
ous sap that is drawn from the source and root of 
all religious communities. 

" I wished,'' said the holy Founder, ^* to plant the 
tree of our society, and to make it take root ; to graft 

* This was decreed in the Council of Lateran, held under Innocent 
III. It was renewed by Gregory X. 



260 The Life and Work of 

it at the centre of unity, under the shadow and the 
auspices of the successor of the Prince of the Apos- 
tles. I also desired to open a path by which I 
might be led to the feet of the Sovereign Pontiff, to 
ask the approbation of our rules and constitutions ; 
to obtain for our Brothers the privilege of making 
the three vows of religion ; to beg the representative 
of Jesus Christ to bless our institute, and to give it, 
in his own words, the mission to teach Christian 
doctrine, according to the good pleasure, and witt 
the permission, of the bishops." * 

Brother Gabriel had already spent several years 
alone near the tombs of the apostles. The Vener- 
able de La Salle felt that so faithful a son should be 
allowed once more to embrace his father; and his 
kindness of heart suggested that he should rather 
go to his child than call him from the field of his 
labor. Age was beginning to tell upon this pioneer 
of the institute. He had proved his fidelity in time 
of trial. He became known in Rome as ** a learned 
and serious man.*' Some priests who knew his 
ability urged him to continue the theological studies 
he had commenced before. entering the society, but 
he refused ; and his conduct, while left alone in his 
distant mission, had added to the love which his 
Venerable superior already entertained for him. It 
was natural that two hearts, knowing how to love 
as they knew how to suffer, should desire to inter- 
change the varied experiences of their respective 
careers. These and similar considerations impelled 
the Venerable de La Salle toward Rome. 

♦ "Vie," par Pdre Blain, t. i, p. 392. 



The Ven. J. B. De La Salle. 261 

When it was suggested to the Venerable de La 
Salle that he might use certain influences in the 
Eternal City to secure the approbation of his 
society, he promptly replied : " I do not like such 
human views; they are not the means which the 
saints would employ." 

He had prayed long, before deciding upon this 
journey, and he took passage in a vessel then bound 
for Civita Vecchia. This was in 1712. He had 
taken leave of the archbishop, and proceeded to 
the boat, happy as a child going to throw himself in- 
to the arms of a long-absent father. Scarcely had 
he arrived at the quay when he perceived Mgr. de 
Belzunce coming toward him. ** Do not go,*' said 
this prelate ; *' there is a certain person who desires 
to establish a school, and to place its direction in 
your hands. I desire you to remain to set it going, 
and place good masters at the head.** La Salle was 
a man to do the good that offered itself at the 
moment, and leave to the future to deal with pos- 
sible prospective good. He w^as emphatically a 
doer, and not a dreamer. In the present instance 
he adhered to his principle of action. *' God be 
blessed ! " said he, turning to the Brothers who had 
come to see him off; and he remarked, to their 
great surprise : " Behold me back from Rome ! It 
is not God*s will that I should go there, since He 
wishes to employ me at something else.** He forth- 
with allowed the Brother whom he was taking to 
assist Brother Gabriel, to go alone, while he quietly 
returned to his community, and thought no more, 
for the time being, of his projected voyage. 



262 The Life and Work of 

*' I wished to visit you/' he wrote afterward to 
Brother Gabriel ; ** I was even ready to depart with 
a M. Ricordeau, Canon of Troy es, who left for Rome 
a month ago. But I was detained by a pressing 
affair which, nevertheless, has not since prospered.*'* 

The Venerable had made a great sacrifice in not 
visiting Rome, but his reward was in the content- 
ment of a will freely resigned to that of God. The 
new mission which the Archbishop of Marseilles 
wished to confide to him was to have been opened 
through the generosity of a rich lady, who, influ- 
enced by the enemies of M. de La Salle, suddenly 
declared that she had changed her intentions. A 
learned Jesuit preacher determined to remedy this 
defection. He eloquently pleaded the cause of 
Christian education, and succeeded in bringing to- 
gether quite a number of subscribers to the praise- 
worthy cause. But it sufficed that a Jesuit should 
have espoused the undertaking, to arouse the hatred 
of the Jansenists. By their artful deception and 
their seductive manners they sowed dissension 
among the subscribers, and the enterprise failed. It 
was the greatest praise for any society, in those 
days, to find its sons opposed by the followers of 

* Lettres du Venerable. — Providence seems to delight in those con- 
trasts that show how different are His ways from those of men. Brother 
Gabriel, in the days of which we write, was scarcely able to procure 
the bread that preserved his devoted life ; the society of which he was 
a member seemed to be the only one that was unnoticed by the Holy 
Father. In our day, while the Divine will has permitted the most 
solidly established communities to be driven from their retreat, and 
their properties turned into values wherewith to swell the public reve- 
nues, the Brothers have been spared their five schools in Rome, while a 
sixth is on the point of being opened at the private expense of the Holy 
Father, whose predecessors, in 1731, had founded a Brothers* school in 
Avignon. 



The Ven. J. B. De La Salle, 263 

Jansenism. The good Jesuit had the honor of 
dividing the contumely of the enemies of the 
Church with the Abbe de La Salle. 

While at Marseilles, the Venerable Founder gave 
a striking proof of his goodness of heart and his 
charity for the fallen. A young Brother who had 
taught school with great success at Calais for five 
years, having been isent to Grenoble, became dis- 
gusted with his state, and when called upon to re- 
move to another community, set out apparently with 
the intention of complying with the demands of his 
superior. On the way, he threw off his religious 
dress, and reentered the world, which delayed not 
to make him feel the bitterness of the cup of pleasure 
that he had placed to his lips. Stung with remorse, 
and with the falsity of human enjoyments, he came 
to Marseilles, where, casting himself at the feet of 
his injured father, he begged to be again received. 
Touched with his contrition, the good superior took 
back this prodigal, and, having made him pass 
through some months of trial, sent him to Mende, 
where he fully realized the expectations that had 
been entertained of him. 

The Venerable de La Salle having taken all neces- 
sary precautions to secure the work that had been so 
painfully, though successfully, begun in Marseilles, 
desired to visit his other communities; but, before 
doing so, he determined to pass some days in re- 
treat in the very spot rendered famous by the thirty- 
three years* penance of Mary Magdalen. He was 
received with much kindness by the Dominican 
fathers who then had charge of the pilgrimage, and 



264 The Life and Work of 

from them he received examples of silence and regu- 
larity which he often afterward spoke of with many 
marks of admiration. 

While he was thus enjoying the sweets of con- 
templation, his children in Marseilles were attacked 
with renewed fury by the Jansenists, who pretended 
that the Venerable had abandoned his Brothers. 
Pilgrims, who returned about that time from Sainte- 
Baume, dispelled the impression which such reports 
were likely to produce. They declared that he was 
spending some days in prayer, and that his presence 
in the midst of his disciples, within a very short 
time, would prove that his heart and his hand were 
still in the good work. In confirmation of their 
words, M. de La Salle's speedy return silenced 
the calumniators, and prevented any further injury 
being done his character. 

These continued persecutions made the Venerable 
think for a time it would be necessary to withdraw 
the Brothers from Marseilles. Before doing so, 
he determined to consult M. Baumer. This learned 
and holy priest was then spiritual director of a 
pious young girl who had received special favors 
from God. When he was consulted by M. de La 
Salle he asked for time to deliberate, and in the mean- 
while consulted his holy penitent. ** How can I tell 
you anything about M. de La Salle T said she to her 
confessor. ** I have never seen him." ** You will 
see him to-morrrow," M. Baumer replied. '' Go to 
the Mass said for the school-children; you will 
receive holy communion from the hands of M. de 
La Salle, who says that Mass, and afterward you 



The Ven. J. B. De La Salle. 265 

will tell me what God shall make known to you 
concerning him/' She did so, and on her return 
said to her director : " Tell M. de La Salle not to 
think of withdrawing his Brothers from Marseilles: 
they are now as an imperceptible grain of mustard- 
seed, but they will become very numerous, and will 
produce abundant fruits/' Encouraged by such 
words, La Salle told his disciples to be patient and 
confident. Brother Timothy continued the novi- 
tiate, and he proceeded on his tour of visitation. 

Mende at this time was the scene of a very 
interesting work, which the Venerable de La Salle 
had promised to encourage. A number of good 
ladies had established a school for the instruction 
of young converts. Mile, de Saint Denis was the 
directress. This work, in which La Salle took great 
interest, occupied his attention for some weeks. He 
drew up for the teachers a rule of life which the 
bishop approved and praised. He saw it prac- 
tised by the ladies who were assisting Mile, de St. 
Denis, and was witness of the fruits produced in 
the school by the new rule of order and regularity. 
This was to him a source of gratification. But he 
was soon to find cause for other feelings. One day, 
as he was about to leave Mende, Brother Timothy 
arrived there most unexpectedly. His sad expres- 
jsion of countenance foreboded unwelcome intelli- 
gence from Marseilles. '' Where are your novices ? 
Does our work still stand?*' said the superior all at 
once. The answer of Brother Timothy confirmed 
his suspicions : *' These men you know of," said he 
sorrowfully, *' snatched from the threshold of the 



12 



266 The Life and Work of 

novitiate the young men who came to us with a 
sincere vocation. . . . Seduced by their protectors, 
those you left are no longer your disciples.** '' God 
be blessed !** replied the Founder; and after having 
detained Brother Timothy for some days with him, 
ne sent him to Avignon, to replace Brother Ponce. 
He himself set out for Rouen. When leaving Mende, 
Mile, de St. Denis presented him with a horse to 
pursue his journey with, as he was at this time in 
feeble health. He accepted the present with grati- 
tude, as a means of sooner reaching his dear St. 
Yon. However, he found some inconvenience in tak- 
ing care of the horse. Once he alighted to say his 
Ofifice, and allowed the animal to graze in an open 
field. The latter strayed into the garden of a rough 
farmer, who, coming out, overwhelmed La Salle 
with abuse, and gave him a blow. The man of God 
immediately threw himself on his knees, and asked 
pardon of his brutal assailant for having involun- 
tarily caused him pain. Astonished at this humility, 
the farmer muttered some words of excuse, and 
went off as confused as he was edified.'^ Upon his 
return to St. Yon, the Venerable sent Brother 
Barthelemy to visit many of the communities. 

In 1714 the Brothers of Grenoble, who were 
supported by contributions annually given by cer- 
tain intelligent and pious persons, began to feel 
the result of a falling-off of the interest which had, 
at first, been shown by some of their patrons. The 
bishop, to remedy this, took the committee of sub- 
scribers under his special protection, and knowing 

♦ F. Lucard, '*Vie de M. de La Salle," t. ii, p. 98, 2™« edition. 



The Ven. J. B. De La Salle. 267 

the eloquence and piety of M. de La Salle, invited 
him to be present at one of the public meetings. 
The latter acquiesced ; and the result of the address 
which he made was the rekindling of the enthusiasm 
that had previously marked the zeal of the founders. 

While in Grenoble the Venerable was consoled, 
also, by the intelligence that peace had been 
restored to his children in Provence. Though he 
would have desired to rejoice with them, he felt 
that prudence required him to abstain from seeing 
them.^ It was on this occasion that he appointed 
Brother Timothy visitor. Brother Bernardin suc- 
ceeded him as director at Alais. 

At this time, also, he received a very touching 
proof of the love entertained for him by the 
Brothers of St. Yon. Knowing the poverty of the 
houses, and that their holy Founder needed many 
little attentions and comforts, rendered necessary 
by the enfeebled condition of his health, they sent 
him a considerable sum with which to provide him- 
self with what might be necessary in his journeys. 
However, he would accept of no such immunity, but 
deposited the amount with reliable parties in Rouen, 
till called for. " Perhaps/* adds F. Lucard, '' he was 
already thinking of acquiring for his novitiate and 
college the vast property of St. Yon.*'f The thought 
was worthy of his generous soul, ever leaving itself 
out of consideration, ever mindful of others. Thus 
he renounced the means of rendering himself neces- 
sary cares and attentions, that he might purchase a 
home for the young and a retreat for the aged. 

* Vie P. Maillefer. t Loc. cit., p. 106. 



268 The Life and Work of 

P^re Blain, afterward the historian of the Vener- 
able de La Salle, was appointed spiritual director 
of the boarding-school and of the community, in 
the absence of the Founder. He was a man of rare 
prudence, and acquired the confidence of all the 
Brothers by the wisdom shown in his acts. He had 
been renowned in his day as being an able preacher. 
On every great occasion he was the orator of the 
day. But that for which he is especially remem- 
bered with esteem by the Brothers, is the perfect 
manner in which he understood his real relations 
toward the community as its spiritual director. " He 
never meddled in the government of the Brothers 
of St. Yon ; he made to their institutions only those 
visits authorized by his charge ; his relations with 
the community always took the character of a dis- 
creet and prudent sympathy." "^ A little incident is 
told, that shows his good-natured disposition. One 
day, as he entered the garden. Brother Hilarion, 
who had been porter for several years, noticed that 
the good abbe was about to enter the walk known 
as the president's. '* You must not go there,*' said 
the Brother ; '' our superior has reserved that for M. 
Pont-Carre, who will be here shortly, and I have 
orders to see that no one disturbs him.'* Far from 
being offended at this prohibition, M. Blain said 
with a smile : '' Do not be afraid ; the president and 
I are good friends. My company will not be dis- 
agreeable to him.'* 

Brother Hilarion was one of those noble char- 
acters who find no sacrifice too great when there 

* F. Lucard, "Vie de Isl. de La Salle," t. ii, p. io8, 2™® edition. 



• The Ven. J, B. De La Salle, 269 

is question of saving their souls. At first the father 
of a numerous family, he entered the society shortly 
after the death of his wife. His oldest son had 
already preceded him, and now another followed 
his example. A daughter of his also received the 
grace of a religious vocation, and was placed by 
the Venerable de La Salle in a convent in Paris, 
where she led a most edifying life. 

In entering religion, Frere Hilarion found himself 
under the direction of his own child. Brother Domi- 
nic. After his novitiate, he was, in 1708, named 
porter of wSt. Yon. He had been there till 171 3, 
when Brother Barthelemy sent him an order to 
proceed to Guise. Though he might have claimed 
exemption from this change, he started afoot for his 
new mission. He remained but one day in Paris, to 
receive Brother Barthelemy's instructions. When 
he had nearly reached his new home, he was taken 
ill ; a sudden weakness took possession of all his 
members ; he asked for the last sacraments, which 
he received with a rare piety, and died, repeating 
these beautiful words : '' I die happy, since I leave 
this world in the very act of accomplishing the will 
of God.'* The death of this edifying old man was a 
source of grief to the Venerable de La Salle. He 
reproved Brother Barthelemy for what he consid- 
ered his imprudence ; but the latter replied that the 
Brother had given no indications of fatigue when at 
Paris. *' His death,'* added he, " was the fruit of 
a heroic virtue, of which the saints themselves offer 
few examples." Another loss distressing to La Salle 
was that of Brother Placide. He died at the early 



276 'the Life and Work of 

age of twenty-three. Brother Barthelemy says of 
him : " Our good Brother died as he had Hved. His 
pecuUar virtues were : great horror of the world, love 
of retirement, openness of heart to his superiors, 
admirable obedience and regularity, modesty, pa- 
tience, and most edifying union with the Brothers." 
Intelligence of a more grievous nature reached 
the Venerable from Paris. The deaths of an aged 
saint and of a young martyr to the cause of Chris- 
tian education were rather subjects of joy than of 
sadness; but M. de La Salle now learned that his 
dear disciples were again the object of persecution 
from the numerous enemies he had left there. The 
writing-masters had once more attacked the schools ; 
they reiterated the calumnies which the Venerable 
de La Salle had so triumphantl}^ refuted. The 
lieutenant-general of police sent a subordinate to 
Brother Barthelemy, empowered to make inquiry 
into the facts alleged. ** The wisdom of Brother 
Director's replies, and the admirable management 
of the schools, turned these proceedings to the 
glory of the Institute of the Brothers."* But an- 
other complication arose which was not so easily 
unravelled. During La Salle's absence M. de La 
Chetardie had obtained the appointment of M. de 
Brou as the spiritual director of the community. 
Cardinal de Noailles, in making the nomination, 
had no idea of interfering with the authorit}^ of M. 
de La Salle, who was always recognized by the 
ecclesiastical powers as the lawful and only superior. 
It was not long previously that the cardinal had 

X F. Lucard, ** Vie de M. de La Salle,'' t. ii, p. no, 2'^'e edition. 



The Ven. J. B. De La Salle. 271 

expressed his sympathy and good-will toward the 
Brothers, at a time, too, when he was surrounded 
by clergy, some of whom he knew had little good to 
say of them or their superior. After the Brothers 
had spoken some words of respect and esteem, he 
delivered a eulogy, within hearing of all present, 
upon the life and virtues of La Salle. " Say to him/* 
he added, " that he always has my esteem ; he is a 
holy man; I recommend myself to his prayers." 
This was at St. Denis, on the occasion of a confirm- 
ation. The croakers and buzzers frowned, and the 
Brothers retired, glad at heart. La Chetardie, who 
still felt somewhat ill-disposed against the holy 
Founder, encouraged de Brou to go further than 
the cardinal had intended, and even succeeded in 
having priests appointed over several communities, 
notably those of Royen, Chartres and Moulins. 

M. de La Salle was written to on the subject, but 
many of the letters did not reach him. In these he 
was accused of having abandoned his Brothers, 
and his motives of inaction questioned, when such 
a crisis was going on. The fact was, he knew nothing 
whatever of the matter. 

\ The cardinal, who had received one lesson, did 
not desire another. " He blamed M. de Brou's te- 
merity, and he showed his esteem for M. de La Salle 
by declaring that he wished nothing changed in the 
order which the servant of God had estabhshed.'* * 
As soon as Brother Barthelemy had learned the 
real nature of M. de Brou's mission, he was urgent 
upon the Founder's returning to Paris. Instead of 

* P^re Maillefer, *^Vie de M. de La Salle." " 



272 The Lift and Work of 

adding to the difficulty by appearing upon the scene 
of trouble, the latter sent the director of Grenoble, 
a pious, learned and experienced Brother. His 
instructions being faithfully followed, the clouds dis- 
persed, and peace again reigned among the children 
of the holy Founder. 

The attempt to weaken authority in the society 
was strangled in its birth, and the integrity of the 
institute was preserved. 

As the Venerable had frequently done before, he 
took charge of the class taught by the Brothers he 
had sent to Paris. When the new master took his 
children to Mass, the people were heard to say : " Let 
us go to church; the holy priest is going to say 
Mass." " These words,*' says a venerable Brother 
who had learned the circumstances, — " these words 
were repeated to me by old men who had been 
pupils of M. de La Salle."* 

On the days that the Venerable did not teach 
'jlass there was a holy rivalry between the Sisters 
of the Visitation and the canons of the church in 
Grenoble, as to who would have the happiness of 
hearing his Mass. As often as duty would permit, 
the holy servant of God gratified the pious wishes 
of the daughters of St. Francis de Sales. 

As soon as the director of Grenoble had returned, 
the Venerable de La Salle hastened to steep his soul 
in the delights of solitude, by retiring for some time 
to the Grande Chartreuse, which had been rendered 



Diposition du Fr^re Patrice » This worthy Brother was born in 1760; 
he was educated in the Brothers* College of Montpelier, and entered the 
Novitiate of Avignon in 1 777. 



The Ven. y. B, De La Satle, 27^ 

illustrious by the life and virtues of the sons of St 
Bruno. Some of the good fathers of that monastery 
who had been witnesses of his austerities, and ap- 
preciated his virtue, solicited him to take up his 
abode with them. But his mission was elsewhere. 
Still, long after his death, the tradition of his visit 
to the Grande Chartreuse remained. When Brother 
Patrick and his director went there to spend a 
few days in retreat, they were told that the lapse 
of sixty-six years had not dimmed the lustre of the 
good name their Venerable Founder had left among 
them. 

Upon his return to the community of Grenoble, 
the Venerable de La Salle spent some time in revis- 
ing the books he had prepared for his schools. 

It was about this time also that the servant of 
God received a subject who was afterward to give 
lustre to his name as a Brother, and to the society 
that received him. 

Abbe de Sal6on, whose name has already occurred 
in these pages, was quietly pursuing the duties of his 
pastorate at Parmenie, when he one day noticed a 
noble-looking pilgrim approaching. Under the 
simple garb of a traveller, the young man evidently 
hid a proud title and a checkered career. He recog- 
nized the pilgrim as Dulac, son of Claude Lancelot 
de Montisambert. This young man had entered the 
arm)'' at the age of fifteen, and had added to the risks 
of a career dangerous in itself by giving full bridle to 
all his passions. His love of gambling had already 
caused serious losses, when his parents placed him in 
a regiment, the officers of which were special friends 



274 ^^^ ^^/^ ^^^ tVork of 

of the family. The battle of Malplaquet was the 
occasion that Providence took to recall the young 
soldier to a sense of duty. Severely, though not 
fatally, wounded, he was tenderly cared for, and dur- 
ing his illness was given the " Lives of the Saints " 
to read. Like another Ignatius, he asked himself 
why he could not be a Christian hero. Grace spoke 
the answer to him ; the young officer became a 
changed man ; he daily grew more and more dis- 
gusted with the world. Dulac, after eight years* 
service, and without notifying his parents, retired 
from the army. He sold his horse, left his uniform 
in his bedroom, and with a single suit, which on the 
way he exchanged with a beggar, departed for 
Grenoble. Away from all who knew him, he began 
a life which was the astonishment of the beholders, 
so severe were its austerities, so numerous its acts 
of humiliation. Visiting the sick was his chief 
delight. At the foot of the altar he acquired the 
strength necessary for his new career. He after- 
ward applied for admission among the children 
of St. Bruno, and again among those of St. Francis. 
In both houses he was told that his vocation was 
elsewhere. He had just made a pilgrimage to 
Rome, having begged his bread both in going and 
returning, when, on reaching Parmenie, he was to 
learn the long-sought object of his life. 

When the Venerable de La Salle was told by the 
Abb6 de Saleon that he believed Dulac called to 
become a Brother of the Christian Schools, the holy 
Founder feared that the erratic life previously led 
by the young convert should prevent him fp^m 



The Ven. J, B, De La Salle, 275 

persevering. However, after conversing some time 
with the pilgrim, and having explained the principal 
duties of the life of a Brother, he told him to retire 
to a cell for some days, and to pray that divine light 
might lead him out of darkness. 

The generous penitent, prostrating himself before 
a crucifix, begged his Saviour to give him strength to 
imitate his pious aunt, who had devoted '' the flower 
of her youth** * entirely to the instruction of the poor 
and the ignorant. As soon as the Venerable de La 
Salle entered his cell, Dulac, in a most imploring 
and sincere petition, begged to be admitted as a 
member of the society. " It is to labor with you in 
your institute that I am called by heaven ; I wish to 
do penance for my sins, and to prevent children from 
becoming victims to passions which, alas! have had 
such sway over me.** La Salle was touched with 
his tears and urgent solicitations. 

'* God*s holy name be blessed !" said he ; " you will 
be a Brother of the Christian Schools. Heaven 
wishes you amongst us: you will do much good." 

The director of Grenoble was charged with the 
formation of the new disciple. The long and beauti- 
ful curls that had been so much admired, were cut 
off; Dulac was vested in the habit of the Christian 
Brother, and edified the people of Grenoble by a 
most mortified life, under the name of Brother Irenee. 
His great request was ** to pray for him.** The 
Venerable assured him that the Brothers would not 

* Inscription over Fran9oise Dulac de Montisambert. She died 1704, 
in the thirtieth year of her age, '* distinguished by the ancient nobility 
of her family, her grace and beauty^ but still more recommendable by her 
intelligence and rare piety. *' 



27& The Life and Work of 

fail in this religious duty. " By his fidelity in fol- 
lowing the advices of the holy Founder, Brother 
Ir6n6e became one of the most useful members of 
the Society ;" from the day of his admission hd had' 
been among the most edifying. 



1 



The Ven. J. B. De La Salle. 27 f 



CHAPTER X. 

The Bull Unigenitus, — ^The Venerable recalled to Paris.— His Recep- 
tion.— Death of M. de La Ch^tardie. — Louis XIV and his Age.— 
The Novices return to St Yon. — Chevalier d'Armstadt. — His Trials. — 
The Venerable returns to St Yon. — ^Visited by distinguished 
Persons. — He Visits Calais. — Devotion to Mary Immaculate. —-His 
Portrait secured. — Resigns the Generalship. — Brother Barth^lemy 
elected. — ^Assistant Superiors named. — The School's Conduct. — 
Method introduced by the Venerable de La Salle. — His views.— 
How to direct and to interest Children. 

We have seen the zeal with which the Venerable 
de La Salle defended Catholic doctrines, and the 
magnificent offers he so promptly rejected when they 
were to be obtained at the price of infidelity. His 
conduct, when the Bull Unigenitus was published, 
is another striking proof of his attachment to the 
See of Peter. 

M. de Montmartin, whose orthodoxy thus far was 
beyond suspicion, issued a pastoral in connection 
with the Bull Unigenitus ; and the Venerable de La 
Salle, who was celebrating the feast of St. Joseph 
with his Brothers of Grenoble, received a copy. He 
immediately assembled his community, read the 
two documents, and added such explanations as he 
deemed necessary under the circumstances. More- 
over, not satisfied with this manifestation of loyalty, 
he published several articles in defence of the true 
doctrine. This irritated the Jansenists anew, but 



2/8 The Life and Work of 

their opposition only served to give greater lustrd 
to the purity and zeal of their opponent. 

While thus employed in defending the Church, 
his disciples in Paris, St. Yon and Rheims, were 
anxious for his return. Brother Barthelemy, w^ho 
knew the great virtue of his superior, availed himself 
of an innocent device to secure his presence in the 
capital. He prepared a document in which, in the 
name of the Brothers, he called upon the Venerable 
Founder to return to Paris, where he was needed to 
look after the interests of the institute. ** Sir,*' said 
the good Brother, ^* we humbly beseech you, and 
we ordain in the name and on the part of the body 
of the society to which you have promised obedi- 
ence, that you immediately take upon yourself the 
general direction of the society. In testimony of 
which "we have signed. Done at Paris, April ist, 

1714."* 

The Venerable de La Salle was still governing 
the society through Brothers Barthelemy, Joseph, 
and Timothy, visitors. Hence the form of command 
taken by Brother Barthelemy was merely a fiction 
which he employed more certainly to secure the 
attention of the holy Founder, who, in his humility, 
thus had the pleasure of obeying his own children. 

His departure from Grenoble was a triumph. 
Every one sought to give him renewed marks of 
appreciation. Before leaving for Paris, he resolved 
to visit his Brothers of Marseilles and Avignon. 
Next he went to Lyons, remained there a few days, 
and then made a pilgrimage to the tomb of St. 

^ P^re Blain. 



The Ven. ^. B. De La Salle. i^g 

Francis de Sales. At Dijon he met several friends, 
whose delight it was to manifest their esteem for 
his disciples. At Rheims he stopped some time to 
consult with Brother Joseph, whose wisdom was 
afterward to secure his appointment as assistant- 
general. Here he spent many hours before the 
altars that had been the witnesses of his first steps 
in the path of virtue. 

On the tenth of August, 17 14, M. de La Salle 
entered Paris, and his humility was shown in the 
first words he spoke. ** What do you desire ? I 
am here to obey,'* said he to the Brothers, who 
were more than confused at such an address. But 
their hearts were too full of filial emotion to men- 
tion their past difficulties. At the sight of their 
beloved father all was forgotten. 

The Venerable de La Salle would have considered 
it a duty to further show his humility by present- 
ing his respects to M. de La Chetardie ; but that 
zealous, though changeable, clergyman had been 
called to the reward of his labors. In dying, he 
asked that his heart might be placed in a leaden 
casket, and buried at the feet of the priests of St. 
Sulpice who had gone before him, ''that/' he said, 
** he might thus render them homage, and by this 
act repair the faults he might have commited while 
in their holy society." He expired on the twenty- 
ninth of June, 1714. 

M. Langnet de Gergey, his successor, was well 
known for his zeal ; and the Brothers had reason 
to believe that an abb6 who had distributed his 
patrimony among the poor would be a friend to 



280 The Life and Work of 

them, whose Founder had been equally heroic. 
They were not disappointed. The new pastor gave 
every proof of his generous intentions, and through 
his advice M. Brou refrained from any interference 
with the Brothers, whom he afterward frequently 
helped by his alms. The Venerable, in gaining a 
friend of some importance, was losing his most gener- 
ous patron, one who had always acted and spoken in 
favor of the new institute. Louis XIV, after a reign 
which had many critics, but which all must admit 
was exceptional in its brilliancy, was called to the 
bar of the Supreme Ruler, before whom all men are 
equal, each being judged according to his works. A 
reign which produced Bossuet and Corneille, Fene- 
Ion and Racine, Bourdaloue and Boileau, Moliere 
and Lafontaine, Descartes and Pascal, Turenne and 
Conde, needs no comment. Madame de Maintenon 
was now the only courtly friend left to the Vener- 
able. In her death, which occurred not long after, 
the holy Founder lost a benefactress as kind as she 
was intelligent, and whose charities were all the 
more praiseworthy, as they had the first requisite 
of goodness : that of being done in silence. 

The altered circumstances rendered it necessary 
to remove the novices to St. Yon. Brother Barth6 
lemy continued as director, while Brother Ir6nee, 
recalled from Avignon, was appointed assistant 
master of novices. Before leaving Paris, the novi- 
tiate received a notable acquisition in the person of 
Chevalier d'Armstadt, a German convert of illus- 
trious birth. He had served under Prince Eugene, 
and was several times wounded. After the battle 



The Ven: J. B. De La Salle. 2^r 

of Denain he quitted the army and came to France. 
One day, as he passed through Lyons, he heard that 
a possessed person was to be exorcised. Being a 
confirmed sceptic, the chevalier determined to see 
the mock ceremony, as he called it. He had scarcely 
entered the church when the possessed woman, look- 
ing fiercely at him, exclaimed: '*Ah! you do not 
believe in devils : well, one day you shall feel their 
power.'* Struck by the strange prophecy, he left the 
church, filled with emotion : the woman had never 
seen him before. Some months later, through in- 
structions received in Lyons, he renounced Luther- 
anism, and became a sincere Catholic. By the advice' 
of his spiritual director, a priest of St. Sulpice, he 
entered the Brothers* novitiate. Here it was that the' 
prediction was fulfilled. His wounds, which had; 
been healed by a charm, soon reopened, and when' 
the novice-master went to his cell, he found the poor 
postulant insensible, weltering in his blood. The 
last sacraments were given him, and he became 
better, only to fall again into like sufferings. In this^ 
paroxysm he seemed anxious to address a crucifix 
placed before him, and his arms were constantly 
in motion, as if parrying invisible assailants. He 
beheld immense numbers of evil spirits, who were 
suddenly driven from his room by a supposed ap- 
parition of the Most Blessed Virgin. 

Strange to say, after this attack he asked for the 
habit of the Brothers with such unceasing perse- 
verance that the Venerable de La Salle gratified 
him. This was the signal for new terrors. He had 
no sooner taken the holy habit than he appeared 



282 The Life and Work of 

to be strangled ; his face became black, and he 
imagined that M. de La Salle, Brother Barthelemy, 
and the priest who had received him into the Church, 
were so many executioners who tortured him. 
Convinced that it was a true case of possession. 
La Salle remained alone with the novice, and per- 
formed all the ceremonies prescribed bv the Church 
in similar cases. The poor young man was relieved, 
and from that moment was no longer disturbed. 
However, with the passing away of all his troubles, 
and his restoration to health, he began to grow 
negligent in the service of God, and lost the grace 
of his vocation. 

M. de La Salle remained in Paris about a month 
after the departure of the novices. He desired to 
leave without seeing Cardinal de Noailles, for the 
latter refused to receive the Bull Unigenitus. After 
two days' reflection he decided not to call upon his 
eminence: he contented himself with taking leave 
of M. Brou. The abbe, fearing that the absence of 
M. de La Salle would give him extra labor in con- 
nection with the schools, requested him to wait 
some time, which he did ; but he hastened as soon 
as possible to St. Yon, where his services were 
needed in the reorganization of the novitiate. In 
1 716 the Venerable had the pleasure of receiving 
M. Gense, the principal benefactor of the Brothers of 
Calais, at St. Yon. M. de La Cocherie accompanied 
him. They undertook this voyage solely to see the 
great educator, of whom they had formed an ex- 
alted idea. He showed them the boarding-school, 
and, say his biographers, '' spent several hours with 



The Ven. J. B. De La Salle. 283 

them among the flowers, in a little retreat he had 
built himself, in imitation of Parmenie/* He prom- 
ised to visit Calais. This he did soon after, and 
his entry there bore all the marks of an ovation. 
The Brothers had feared that their stipend, paid in 
part by Louis XIV, would be lessened after the 
death of that prince ; but Louis XV promised the 
same amount, which was further increased by the 
city authorities. By special invitation, the servant 
of God officiated on the feast of the Assumption. 
The pastor preached, but said not a word about 
the Most Blessed Virgin. This was more than the 
Venerable had imagined possible, and he took the 
liberty to call his host's attention to the fact. The 
pastor acknowledged his mistake, and repaired it 
the following Sunday. 

M. Gense was desirous to secure the portrait of 
his friend, but he could not prevail upon him to 
sit for the purpose. He therefore invited him to 
dinner, and placing him in a proper position, an 
artist labored so industriously during the meal, 
which was designedly prolonged, that the portrait 
was sufficiently advanced to assure its correctness. 
M. de La Salle made no remark when he learned 
of the occurrence, but never could be induced to 
honor his friend's table again. 

During his sojourn in Boulogne, which he next 
visited, the holy Founder had the pleasure of seeing 
his children better lodged. By public proclamation 
the masons and laborers of the city were called 
upon to erect a dwelling for the Brothers. M. de 
La Cocherie furnished the materials, and the number 



284 The Life and Work of 

who willingly presented themselves to help in the 
good work made it speedy. " We are happy/* said 
these honest workmen, ** to do something for 
Brothers who give their lives for our children.*' 

The declining health of the Venerable warned 
him that it was time to think of placing the helm 
in other hands. During the past few years he had 
kept aloof as much as possible, in order to accus- 
tom his children to govern themselves. He as- 
sembled the Brothers of Rouen and Darnetal 
at St. Yon, and, after some touching details upon 
his late voyage, he told them that his age and his 
infirmities, which each day increased, rendered it 
absolutely necessary for him to resign. He did 
not refuse to labor, but he loved his institute too 
well, and knew that it was necessary, during his life- 
time, for another to direct its interests. 

" Many say that you cannot govern yourselves,'* 
he continued, '' but it is because they desire to place 
a stranger at your head ; not understanding that a 
superior who would not have been trained to your 
spirit, who would not follow your manner of living, 
could not serve your true interests with intelligence 
and devotedness. Such a project, if realized, would 
bring ruin upon our society. Now is the time to 
elect a superior, and to prove the contrary : thus, 
when I am called away, there will be no vacancy 
made.*' These and many other arguments which 
the Venerable employed, were at first answered by 
sobs and tears; but finally, accepting the reasons 
advanced, they agreed that Brother Barth61emy 
should act as general visitor, and perform the other 



The Ven. J. B De La Salle. 285 

functions of the superior, it being understood, how- 
ever, that the Venerable Founder should remain 
with them, and at their head, giving his advice 
whenever asked or needed. The following docu- 
ment was then drawn up : — 

** We, the undersigned, Brothers of the Christian 
Schools, assembled in our house of St. Yon to con- 
sult upon important questions relative to the wel- 
fare of the institute, having recognized that for the 
past year M. de La Salle, our Founder, on account 
of his infirmities, has been unable to perform the 
duties of his office, have judged it proper, and even 
necessary, that Brother Barthelemy, who for some 
years has been at the head of our institute, shall 
forthwith visit all the houses which depend upon 
it, to see what is therein done, and the manner in 
which the Brothers conduct themselves, that we 
may afterward, in council of the principal Brothers, 
regulate what may be necessary to preserve union 
and uniformity in the society, to determine and to 
establish our government, and, at the same time, 
to provide for the general administration of our 
institute, in an assembly which Brother Barth6- 
lemy will convoke in our house of St. Yon, from 
the feast of the Ascension to that of Pentecost. In 
testimony whereof we have signed. Done at St, 
Yon, this 4th of December, 1716. 

" F. FRANqois, F. Charles, 

F. DosiTH^E, F. Ambroise, 

F. Etienne/' 



286 The Life and Work of 

Underneath these signatures we read : 

** I approve and think well of what the Brothers 
have resolved, as per above. 

(Signed) " De La Salle/' 

The only one out of reach of the visits of the new 
superior was Brother Gabriel. It had been so with 
his dear father and bosom friend. But he was not 
forgotten. Next day, the Venerable Founder, among 
other things, wrote as follows: '' For the past ten 
months I have been ill in this house, where I have 
been for about a year. Your last letter has con- 
soled me greatly, and your continued affection and 
goodness of heart give me much pleasure. Let me 
know, I pray you, how you are succeeding. This 
vacation I had hoped to send you a very good 
Brother, who has spent some time in Italy, and who 
knows some Italian; but we have employed him 
elsewhere, believing it very important to supply 
the place he occupies. 

** The Brothers intend to hold an assembly between 
Ascension and Pentecost, to regulate many things 
regarding the rules and the administration of the 
institute. I beg you to send your assent to all that 
will be determined therein by the chief Brothers in 
the society. I believe your schools are always open ; 
let me know how many scholars you have. Your 
nephew told me that he wished to become a Brother. 
As he is rather giddy, I deferred his request ; since 
then I have heard nothing of him.** 

Though Brother Barth61emy trembled, and could 
not refrain from shedding tears, when he received 



The Ven, J, B. De La Salle. 287 

notice of his appointment, still, overcoming his 
natural feelings, he at once left for Chartres, where 
he placed his visitations under the protection of the 
Mother of God. The Brothers of that city welcomed 
him warmly, and promised him implicit obedience. 
They prepared a document to this effect, which was 
signed by Brothers Hubert, Sebastien, Cyprien and 
Pierre. The other houses were visited in turn, and 
everywhere the same spirit of union was manifest. 
All signed the document by which the proposed 
assembly was approved, and obedience promised to 
its regulations. Several times in his journey Brother 
Barthelemy was visibly protected ; especially on 
one occasion when, falling from his horse, his foot 
caught in the stirrup, and he was dragged for some 
distance without any injury. Another time he lost 
his way in a snow-fall, and dreading to be benighted 
in so lonely a by-road, he earnestly recommended 
himself to his guardian angel. He immediately 
saw several persons, who made signs to him to follow 
them. No sooner had he reached the open road 
than his guides suddenly disappeared. 

Six days after the arrival of Brother Barthelemy, 
sixteen professed Brothers were assembled at St. 
Yon. That their discussions might be entirely free, 
the Venerable refused to be present. *' I will remain 
in my cell," said he, '* and pray the Holy Ghost to 
enlighten you. I shall see you only during the con- 
ferences.'* By his orders they proceeded to the 
election of a president, and Brother Barthelemy 
received a full vote. The next thing in order was 
the election of a superior- general ; but the holy 



2.88 The Life and Work of 

Founder first required them to make a three days* 
retreat, during which they frequently recited a 
prayer he had expressly composed for the occasion. 
In his conferences he insisted upon the qualities of 
a good superior, and advised them to choose the 
man most capable of fulfilling the onerous position. 
** Name him among you,'* he said, ^* whom you 
know to be the most enlightened, wise, virtuous and 
firm. . . . Look not to talents, or birth, or age of 
community, or personal appearance; in a word, 
look not to the man, but to God, whom he is to 
represent. . . . Give your vote to him whom your 
conscience designates as the most meritorious, and 
whom, at the hour of your death, you would choose 
to govern the institute, maintain it in regularity, and 
cause fervor, devotedness and charity to reign in it.'* 

On the eighth of May, 171 7, after having heard 
Mass and received holy communion, the capitu- 
lants retired to the conference-room, where, the 
light and assistance of the Holy Ghost having been 
again implored, Brother Barthelemy, by a large 
majority of votes, was elected superior-general of 
the Brothers of the Christian Schools. " God be 
praised ! " said the holy Founder, to whom this 
intelligence was at once brought, " he has already 
exercised the functions of the office for some time.*' 

In vain did the new general beg to be excused 
from carrying a burden which his humility made 
him feel unable to bear ; but, after struggling to no 
purpose, he calmly resigned himself to the cares 
and the honors of the first place. 

The capitulants next prepared a document, iq 



The Ven. J. B. De La Salle. 289 

which they declare that, of their own free choice, 
and without any constraint, they had elected Joseph 
TrufFet, known in religion as Fr^re Barthelemy, as 
general and perpetual superior. By the advice of 
the Venerable Founder, the chapter elected Brother 
Jean, director of the Paris community, and Brother 
Joseph, visitor, as assistants to the superior-general. 
Their duties were to aid Brother Barth61emy by 
their wise councils, and to divide with him the labors 
of the general administration. 

Brother Fiacre, director of Boulogne, replaced 
Brother Joseph as visitor, and Brother Ir6n6e was 
appointed director of the novitiate, and also of that 
part of the establishment of St. Yon in which cul- 
prits were detained. The former soldier introduced 
the strict discipline to which, in early days, he had 
been subjected, and for thirty-three years rendered 
important services in this position. 

Brother Irenee, when called upon by the most 
honored superior-general to address the novices, 
on the occasion of his installation, had but a few mo- 
ments to prepare. However, meditation had already 
given him a fund from which he immediately drew 
with such effect, that all who heard him were struck 
with the justness of his remarks, and the insight they 
indicated in all that related to spiritual things. 

His confidence in the holy Mother of God in- 
duced him to implore her blessing upon the novi- 
tiate, in a manner which at once shows his simple 
faith and Christian humility. Seeing that the num- 
ber of postulants continued small, he knelt before 

^ favorite painting of the Immaculate Conception, 

13 



290 The Life and Work of 

and, with a halter about his neck, deposited the 
keys of the novitiate at the feet of his Queen. So 
eloquent and pathetic a petition produced happy 
results; and after the death of the holy Founder 
the novices rarely numbered less than thirty. 

Brother Gabriel was informed by Brother Bar- 
thelemy of the changes that had taken place. ** In 
the assembly held last month,*' says the most hon- 
ored superior-general, " our dear Brothers, despite 
my un worthiness, elected me superior-general of our 
institute. Our dear Brothers, John and Joseph, 
were also elected, by secret ballot, as assistants.'* 

The '' Brother Director's Rule " next occupied 
the attention of the chapter ; the " Government of 
Schools " likewise called for several sessions. All 
was decided *' after mature reflection, according to 
the majority of votes ; and in all things the greatest 
good of the society was considered."^ 

The chapter was closed on the twenty-third of 
May — Trinity-Sunday. The capitulants presented 
the verbal process of their deliberations to the 
Venerable Founder, asking that he would examine 
and advise according to his best judgment. De- 
lighted at the result of their labors, and seeing him- 
self at length freed from the burden of governing, 
he promised to do all in his power to carry out 
their intentions. 

Before retiring to their various communities, the 
Venerable de La Salle invited the capitulants to 
the chapel, where they celebrated the new depar- 
ture of the institute in pious hymns and canticles. 

* Arch, du Regime y Chapitre de I7I7« 



The Ven. J. B. De La Salle. 29I 

Those who do not know the spirit of religious 
communities, can understand but little of the joy 
experienced in such meetings of childlike devotion. 
The hymns and canticles then sung are the battle- 
song at the bivouac, before the departure of the 
soldiers of Christ against man*s greatest enemies, 
ignorance and incredulity. The Venerable de La 
Salle availed himself of the repose that had been 
given him, to review the rules and constitutions of 
the society. When he had completed his work, he 
submitted it to the most honored brother superior, 
who sent a copy to each community. The following 
document certified the correctness of the text: 

*' We the undersigned, Superior of the Brothers 
of the Christian Schools, send to our dear Brother 

of the rules found hereto attached. They are 

divided into thirty -two chapters, and contain a para- 
graphed formula of the vows prepared by us. We 
send them as determined and decreed by us and 
by the Brothers Directors of our society, in the 
general assembly held in our house of St. Yon, 
Faubourg de Rouen, in the month of May, last year, 
1717. They are to be put in force and observed by 
all our Brothers. Therefore we declare null and 
void any other rule which may be found in any of 
our houses. In attestation of which we have signed. 
Done at our house of St. Yon, this thirtj'-first of 
October, 171 8. 

" Joseph Truffet, 

''{Otherwise) BROTHER Barthelemy." 
A similar declaration was made in reference to 



292 The Life and Work of 

the ' Brother Director's Rule,** and each page was 
verified and countersigned by the superior. 

** The Government of Schools/* a work urgently 
demanded by the Brothers, and imperatively neces- 
sary in a teaching body that was tracing a new path 
in its methods, occupied many hours in the Vener- 
able*s attention. ^' God alone knows with what per- 
sistency and charity our Venerable Founder sought, 
with the best experienced of the Brothers, the most 
efficacious method by which to attain success in 
school.'* * 

To the method developed in the admirable work 
generally known as " The Schoors Conduct,** we 
owe the introduction of the simultaneous-mutual 
method. Previously, the individual method, in 
which each scholar received a special lesson from the 
teacher, was in general usage. The universality 
of its practice rendered the change the more difficult. 
Yet it seems evident in our day that this system 
must have been productive of very poor results. 
The shortness of time devoted to each pupil, the 
absence of emulation, and the throwing the young 
learner entirely on his own resources for the greater 
part of the day, — rendered progress difficult for the 
more gifted, and almost impossible for the less 
favored. 

The simultaneous method, likewise, had its seri- 
ous disadvantages. While a section was taught 
together, the other scholars were left to themselves, 
thus inviting disorder, and often creating it. 

* ** Circular Letters, '^ 1720. — A commission appointed by the English 
government to examine the system invented by the Venerable de La 
Salle, summed up their report by saying: **If we had known tho 
Christian Brothers, we would not have had Lancasterian schools." 



The Ven. % B. De La Salle. 293 

The simultaneous-mutual method, which the 
Venerable de La Salle introduced, removes these 
difficulties. Two or three of the most intelligent 
scholars oversee the sections that are not under 
the immediate care of the Brother, and thus all are 
kept busy. In this way, also, many young men 
acquire a taste for teaching, and become the most 
successful of masters. This appears extremely sim- 
ple to those who have not seen the less perfect 
methods. It is so with all important innovations : 
we naturally say : ** The wonder is that the change 
was not sooner made." This, however, derogates 
nothing from the honor due to the successful in- 
novator. Moreover, it is characteristic of genius 
that it simplifies. The method thus inaugurated 
by the Venerable and his first disciples is that which, 
at the present day, is followed by the Brothers of 
the Christian Schools throughout the world. The 
success which everywhere appears to crown their 
labors is due in great part to the rules and regulations 
dictated by experience, and followed as a Christian 
and religious duty. Lancaster, Uhland, Pestalozzi, 
and Jacotot deserve well of the people ; but the 
Venerable de La Salle, in his method as expounded 
in his ** Government of Schools," will be found to 
have introduced, before them, all that is good in 
their systems, and much that their experience had 
not discovered. The insight which the holy 
Founder had obtained into the human heart is visible 
in every page of the part of his system which treats 
of the moral and intellectual training of youth: — 

*' Children must be induced to love school, and to 



294 ^^^ J-'tf^ ^^^ Work of 

consider it a recompense to be allowed the privi- 
lege of attending it. . . . Parents being usually wor- 
shippers of their children, if these ask to attend 
school, fathers and mothers will be but too glad to 
send them. . . . Children usually become disgusted at 
school when the teachers have no tact, or display no 
energy. . . . You must take courage, and speak with- 
out fear,'* said the Venerable to a young Brother; 
" we must begin boldl}'^ by blundering, for at first 
we can be skilful in nothing. Be persuaded that 
authority is secured and preserved rather by firm- 
ness, gravity and silence, than by blows and sever- 
ity.*'"*^ '* Your schools and your community,*' said 
the Venerable to the director of Chartres, " must be 
your whole care. If you meddle in anything else, 
you oppose the will of God. Your duty is to direct 
the Brothers, and to make the schools prosper." 

Thus the holy servant of God touches the vital 
part of every question, and places responsibility 
where it really rests. Teachers often blame their 
scholars, when their own want of tact, or their inex- 
perience or lack of interest, is the true cause of fail- 
ure. Schools are such as masters make them. 
Children or youths are the same the world over. 
" We need not, then, be surprised at the success 
which the Venerable de La Salle, attained as an 
educator. His name, through the work of his dis- 
ciples, was revered, before his death, in twenty-nine 
cities of France. They were abundantly blessed, 
because they were extremely careful to follow his 
advices, "f 

* LettreSf etc., Arch, du Regime, 1 F. Lucam, p. 371. 



The Ven. J. B. De La Salle. 295 



CHAPTER XI. 

The Venerable de La Salle as an Inferior. — His Humility. — He visits 
Paris to receive a Legacy. — Love of Truth. — St. Yon to be sold. — Death 
of Madame de Louvois. — Generosity of her Son. — St. Yon the Prop- 
erty of the Institute. — The Venerable plans new Buildings. — Fervor 
of the Novices. — M. de La Salle's Recollection in Prayer. — Brothers 
asked for Canada. — Illness of the Holy Founder. — Temporary Cure. — 
Mass on St. Joseph's Day. — Was the Venerable interdicted? — He 
follows St. Vincent de Paul. — He receives the last Sacraments. — Last 
Will and Testament. — He advises Retirement from the World. — His 
Prophecy.— Last Words.— "The Saint is dead ! "—Brother Barth6- 
lemy's Letters. — Brother Gabriel. — The Funeral. 

The Venerable de La Salle, in his retirement at 
St. Yon, might look upon his work, and truthfully 
say of it, "It is good/' His mission as superior was 
complete : it remained for him to manifest that he had 
l)een worthy to govern, since he so well knew how 
to obey. When written to about the success of his 
schools, after his resignation as general, he took 
occasion to say : " It is true that I began to form 
Brothers to direct gratuitous schools, but it is some 
time since I have been relieved from directing them. 
It is one of the Brothers, named Brother Barth^lemy, 
who now conducts them, and all the Brothers acknow- 
ledge him as superior'' When requested by Brother 
Barth61emy to add some words to a letter which 
he was sending to a distinguished person, the Vener- 
able said in his postscript : '' Permit me, though a 



^0 The Life and Work of 

poor priest of St. Yon, to send these few lines with 
the letter which is written you by Brother Bar- 
th61emy, superior of the Brothers. I request you 
to do that which is asked ; and I am quite certain 
that your zeal is such that my worthless suffrage is 
not necessary to induce you to listen favorably to 
the brother superior.'* 

When some persons expressed their astonishment 
that he, a priest and doctor of divinity, should sub- 
mit to a layman, he said : ** Well, shall not the min- 
isters of Him who has said, * Learn of me, for I am 
meek and humble of heart,' humiliate themselves? 
Can they, without prevarication, limit themselves to 
teaching by word ? Are they not obliged to teach 
by example ?" In his letters to Brother Barthelemy, 
he constantly professed obedience and submission. 
** You know," he says, **that I am willing to obey 
in all things, for I am now a simple subject ; and I 
have not made vows of obedience, that I may do 
my own will.*' 

His choice would have been the last place at all 
the exercises. Several times he was seen mending 
his clothing, and it required an absolute order to 
prevent him from sweeping his cell, and from making 
his bed. Brother Barth61emy gave this office to a 
novice. Forthwith the older members complained 
that such an honor was given to a novice rather 
than to a professed Brother! The holy Founder 
attributed these attentions to the sympathy which 
the Brothers felt for an infirm old man. His humil- 
ity was to be pained by a much greater mark of 
esteem, — one that he thought threatened to deprive 



The Ven. J. B. De La Salle. 2g7 

him of the merit attached to one of the greatest 
trials he had passed through in his earlier days. 
M. Rogier, who had been one of the chief abettors 
of the Abbe Clement, was taken dangerously ill at 
Paris. The sight of death gave renewed strength 
to a remorse which had long pursued him, and 
he wished to leave an annual income in M. de La 
Salle's favor. 

Brother Barthelemy was obliged to give an order 
to that effect, before the servant of God would 
consent to visit Paris, whither he was called by 
the attorneys. His love for the Brothers of a city 
in which he had suffered so much, would have 
induced him to stay with them ; but the dread of 
such honors as he knew would be paid him by his 
dear children, induced him rather to stop with the 
successors of P6re Bourdoise. 

In the testament made in his favor he was styled 
*' Superior of the Brothers of the Christian Schools." 
This the Venerable refused to permit, and even 
went so far as to state that he would rather renounce 
the legacy than accept it at the price of a seeming 
prevarication. His humility triumphed, and the 
papers named him simply as M. de La Salle. 

During this transaction, Madame la Marquise de 
Louvois was called to eternity. The Brothers were 
notified that St. Yon was to be sold. Brother 
Barthelemy considered himself obliged to seek 
another home for his novices. Notice was issued 
that no more boarders could be received. When 
Brother Thomas, procurator-general, according to 
the superior's instructions, called upon M. de La 



29^ The Life and Work of 

Salle for advice as to the future, the holy man re- 
plied : " What do you fear ? Have I not already 
told you that St. Yon shall be yours?'* 

To encourage them still more, he gave them his 
library and his vestments, which had been kept at 
St. Sulpice. When consulted by Brother Barth6- 
lemy as to the means by which to secure the property, 
he replied : *^ I do not advise you to borrow money 
to purchase, yet I do not positively say that you 
should not do so. You can consult others on this 
subject. I believe that all you do will be well. It 
is not proper that I should interfere in these matters : 
for I am nothing, and you, as superior, are the mas- 
ter." In regard to the persons you wish me to see, 
I will call upon them if you say so. In this case 
deign, as my superior, to send me an order to this 
effect. I will go immediately, or the first holiday, 
and I shall tell them that you have sent me. I wish 
you and all the Brothers a prosperous and happy 
year." 

Providence soon realized the promise made by 
His servant. The annual income left to M. de La 
Salle, but which he had not used, was converted 
into the sum of five thousand two hundred livres. 
The money which had been sent him, when making 
his visitation, was withdrawn from Rouen, and 
amounted, with the interests, to six thousand six 
hundred livres. To this was added what the 
communities of Paris, Rheims, Versailles, Guise, 
Boulogne and Calais, sent him through the brother 
director of St Sulpice. In all they had but fifteen 
thousand livres : an amount quite inadequate for the 



The Ven. J. B, De La Salle. ig^ 

purchase of the coveted retreat, already so dear to 
all the Brothers. 

Again the hand of God was manifested in the 
goodness of heart shown by His servant. The pious 
Abbe de Louvois, executor of his mother's will and 
testament, did not offer the property at public sale. 
He was satisfied with what the Brothers could give 
him, and only asked that he might be remembered 
in the prayers that would be said in a house that 
the Brothers so gladly called their own from that 
moment. The deeds were made in the names of 
Joseph Truffet (Brother Barthelemy) and Charles 
Frapet (Brother Thomas). 

Thus far Moulins was the only city in which the in- 
stitute had obtained letters-patent. On the thirtieth 
of March, 1717, M. Auberg, a special friend of the 
Brothers, obtained permission from the bishop of 
Autun to secure this favor for the new teachers. 
His request was granted in June of the same year. 

But the absence of the Venerable Founder from 
among his children was to them a source of great 
sorrow. He wished, now more than ever, to ac- 
custom them to self-government, as he saw his zeal- 
ous career rapidly coming to a close. The Brothers, 
for the same reason, felt that, as their father's days 
were few, they should be spent among those whose 
delight it would be to treasure up his examples, and 
to keep all his words in their hearts. At the press- 
ing invitation of Brother Barthelemy, the holy 
Founder returned to St. Yon, not without a struggle 
on the part of the Brothers of Paris, who also 
claimed that, if their father left St. Nicholas, he 



3oo The Life and Work of 

should rather spend the remaining days of his life 
among those who, with him, had suffered most in 
the founding of the society. Brother Barth61emy 
induced the Venerable Founder to spend two days 
with his children in the capital, after which both 
returned to St. Yon on the seventh of March, the 
eve of the day upon which all the papers transfer- 
ring the property were to be signed. 

Momentarily rejuvenated when again among his 
own, the Venerable, at Brother Barthelemy's re- 
quest, drew up the plan of the chapel, still at St. 
Yon ; also for structures that surround the principal 
courtyard of the establishment. The holy Founder 
had the consolation to bless the beginning of these 
various works. But in the midst of these distract- 
ing duties he forgot not the spiritual wants of his 
flock. He heard their confessions, said Mass each 
morning for them, and gave daily conferences to 
the novices. 

A single instance will give an idea of the piety 
which at that time reigned in the novitiate. Among 
the novices, none was more distinguished for his 
rare virtue than Brother Stanislaus. One morning, 
immediately after holy Mass, the good Brother left 
the ranks without permission, and approaching a 
postulant who had been received but a short time 
previously, he embraced him with many marks of 
affection, and professed himself ready at any 
moment to render him service. Brother Ir^nee, 
astonished at this strange proceeding, asked the 
novice for an explanation. '' Well,*' said Brother 
Stanislaus, " I do not know why, but I feel an 



The Ven. y. S. De La Salle. 3C1 

extreme repugnance to this postulant, and I have 
asked our Lord to give me grace to overcome it. 
I have even begged our Saviour to give him part of 
the graces destined for me, as a remuneration for my 
lack of charity/' Another time, appearing quite 
sad, he was asked the reason. ** Why, dear Brother 
Director, you neglect me : I am truly happy only in 
the midst of humiliation, and you refuse to try my 
weak virtue,'* replied Brother Stanislaus. In the 
students* recreation the Venerable, despite his old 
age, was often seen encouraging the young people 
to enjoy themselves. He took great interest in 
their games, and knew from experience that there 
are few sins in students' play-grounds when there 
is great noise. 

In 1 71 8, Charron, one of the founders of the 
hospital in Canada, came to St. Yon, and asked 
for four Brothers. The Venerable, being consulted, 
at first advised that they should be given. All 
arrangements were made, when, unexpectedly, the 
holy Founder returned from prolonged prayer, and 
begged Brother Barth61emy to withdraw the pro- 
mise. '* But," said the superior, " we have followed 
your advice." " If the Brothers go, they will not 
succeed," replied M. de La Salle. The negotiations 
were annulled, and Charron afterward admitted 
that he intended to send them separately into the 
villages as teachers.* 

* One hundred years later (1817) four Brothers were sent to New 
Orleans (La.), where, contrary to agreement, they were separated, and 
sent to various missions. Deprived of the graces of community life, they 
soon tired, and withdrew from the institute. Thus the previsions of the 
Venerable de La Salle were confirmed. In 1853 one of these former 
Brothers asked to make a spiritual retreat in the Christian Brothers* 
College, St. Louis, Missouri. 



302 The Life and Work of 

An occurrence at this time shows the piety with 
which the Venerable recited the divine office. The 
bakery attached to the establishment having taken 
fire, the Brothers, novices, and postulants hastened 
to the threatened locality. In the noise and tumult 
that ensued, all these persons were obliged to pass 
and repass before the door of the room in which La 
Salle was engaged in prayer. Still he heard nothing 
of it all. Finally, seeing that they could not control 
the spreading flames, Brother Barthelemy called 
upon the holy Founder, and requested him to pray 
that the disaster which threatened them might be 
averted. The servant of God, through obedience, 
went with his superior, and had scarcely commenced 
his prayer when the flames ceased, and St. Yon was 
saved, all admitted, through the intercession of its 
first father. 

With all the care that the Brothers could bestow 
upon the Venerable, his health rapidly declined. 
Then it was that the affection of his children was 
displayed in its brightest colors. They spoke in 
an undertone when near his apartments, and often 
walked some distance, rather than make any noise 
by passing before his door. When they did give 
themselves the privilege of going the shortest way, 
it was that they might, unseen, salute their vener- 
ated father, and offer a prayer for his preservation. 

One day Brother Barthelemy was heard speaking 
in a loud tone in the holy Founder's apartment. A 
Brother took the liberty of entering, to tell him that 
he should strive to speak in a lower voice, as the 
Venerable was suffering so much. The superior 



The Ven. J. B, De La Salle, 303 

said : '' What ! can I be patient when M. de La Salle 
tells me that his sickness is ruining the house, and 
that we are spending too much upon him? He 
wishes us to send him to the hospital.*' ^ 

Toward the end of January, 17 19, a severe attack 
of asthma was added to his already excruciating 
rheumatic pains. Brother Barthelemy was then 
visiting some of his communities, and the Venerable, 
despite his age and sufferings, wished to renew and 
increase his austerities. He resumed the last place, 
and would have been taken for a country curate, 
who was making a retreat at St. Yon, he was so 
modest and simple in his appearance. The lenten 
season had begun, and M. de La Salle could not be 
induced to accept the privileges required by his 
suffering condition. ** The victim will soon be 
immolated : let it be as pure as possible/' was his 
reply. 

When Brother Barthelemy returned, he requested 
the servant of God to retake the place of honor 
due him, and he also forbade him the use of the 
severe penances and fasts he had been practising. 
Docile to the voice of obedience, M. de La Salle 
humbly submitted to all the cares that were be- 
stowed upon him. 

As he never spoke of his sufferings except to the 
physician, and as he had acquired such command 
over himself that he could conceal his pains, the 
Brothers loved to believe that he might yet be 
preserved some years in their midst. 

In the month of February his illness increased ; 

* The hospitals are, in France, what the poorhouses are in England. 



304 The Life and Work of 

the nervousness caused by the falling upon him of 
a heavy door augmented his headaches, while 
a severe pain in his side added to the difficulties 
of the position. The physician still anticipated a 
favorable turn in the patient^s condition till, toward 
the end of the month, he was constrained to make the 
sad announcement that he no longer had any hopes. 
Then, as though heaven would consent to be taken 
by violence, the Brothers implored the divine mercy 
not to strike them so soon and so painfully. Their 
prayers were continual, their promises numerous, 
their faith unbounded. God seemed to listen to 
their cries, in the first days of the month of March : 
their Te Deums resounded in honor of the merciful 
God who allowed them to see their father once more 
at the altar. 

Their joy had scarcely reached its height when 
their beloved chief was once more a victim to 
sufferings more cruel than any he had hitherto 
experienced. The Brothers were to have but one 
more consolation. 

On the eighteenth of March the Venerable ex- 
pressed the great desire he felt to offer the holy 
sacrifice on the feast-day of St. Joseph, to whom he 
always had a special devotion. Late in the night 
the servant of God felt a sudden change for the 
better, and, to the intense delight of the Brothers, 
— a delight mingled with the deepest sympathy, they 
saw him painfully approaching the foot of the 
altar, on the beautiful feast of the patron of 
their society, since named universal protector of 
the Church. 



The Ven. J. B. De La Salle. 305 

Several hours were spent in the celebration of the 
day, and the Venerable was able even to talk quite 
freely with his dear children. The joy was but 
momentary, for he was retaken with the acute pains 
that had so suddenly disappeared. He was borne 
in a sad procession, in the arms of those he loved, to 
his couch of suffering. 

Several biographers have declared that the Ven- 
erable de La Salle, pursued by the malignity of his 
enemies, spent the last days of his life under the 
censure of his bishop. A close research has not 
enabled us to give this assertion the weight of 
documental authority. 

These biographers state that the cause of this 
penalty was the refusal of M. de La Salle to take 
the *' culprits " of St. Yon to the public services 
on Sunday. 

On the twenty-second of March, 1706, an agree- 
ment had been entered into between La Salle and 
the Abbe Hecquet, then pastor of St. Sever. The 
chief points in this document were: i, that the 
boarders of St. Yon should assist at the parochial 
Mass ; 2, that the feast of Easter should not be cele- 
brated in the chapel of the institution ; 3, that the 
Brothers and their scholars should receive paschal 
communion in the parish church. 

In 171 5, the Venerable Founder consented to 
open a reformatory school, and in this were to be 
received the sons of distinguished persons. St, 
Vincent de Paul had already established an insti- 
tution in which young men made retreats, and were 
oflFered opportunities to reform. Both the holy 



3o6 The Life and Work of 

founder of the Sisters of Charity and the Vener- 
able knew that charity as well as prudence required 
that these young persons should remain unknown, 
and therefore they could not be required to attend 
public services. Moreover, the law required the 
most rigorous secrecy to be observed as to the 
history, and even the names, of these young liber- 
tines. ** Each reformatory had its private chapel, 
served by chaplains appointed by the king.'' ^ M. de 
Pontcarre gave St. Yon all the rights attached to 
chapels of reformatory schools.'' \ Necessaril}^, from 
this moment the agreement of twenty-second March, 
1706, was no longer in force. 

During this change of plan, or rather its exten- 
sion, at St. Yon, Abbe Hecquet was called to a 
better world. M. Dujarrier-Bresnard became the 
incumbent of St. Sever. One of his first move- 
ments was to demand that the reform scholars 
should be brought to public services. 

Abbe Robinet was appointed to examine the dis- 
puted question, and after a full hearing declared 
that, ** although the Brothers were mere laymen, 
without letters-patent, they might have Mass said 
in their chapel during the two weeks following 
Easter, and the boarders might make their first com- 
m^union therein'' 

In 1719, M. Dujarrier-Bresnard renewed his claim, 
and appealed to the archbishopric. He failed in 
his efforts to oblige the boarders to attend public 
services, though Easter was made an exception. 
** Moreover, M. de Pontcarre would never have 

♦ F. Lucard, p. 420. t Ibid. 



The Ven. J, B. De La Salle. 307 

permitted the rights attached to the chapel of St. 
Yon to be tampered with." * 

At this juncture the severest trial of M. de La 
Salle was to take place. The vicar-general accused 
the Venerable Founder of lack of sincerity to the 
archbishop. This irritated the latter. It was also 
cause of much indignation to a clergyman present 
at hearing an old man of such irreproachable char- 
acter so lightly spoken of, and at a time, too, when 
stricken with sickness, and unable to defend himself. 
He thereupon took the liberty of saying to Mgr. 
d'Aubigne: "Either M. de La Salle has but ill 
expressed himself, or the vicar-general has but ill 
understood. The accused ought to be heard before 
being condemned.'' The archbishop regarded the 
remark as ill-timed, and expressed his determination 
of placing La Salle under an interdict. The peace- 
maker, in all probability Pere Blain, immediately 
hastened to St. Yon, and, without informing the 
accused of what had happened, asked him to repeat 
the substance of his last interview with the vicar. 
It was as he had anticipated : La Salle had been 
misunderstood. He hastened to the archbishop, 
and gave him a true statement of the case, and pro- 
tested against the injustice ; but his remonstrances 
were in vain. Mgr. d'Aubigne preferred the testi- 
mony of M. du Bresnard, who had already been in 
litigation with his parishioners, and hkewise had 
several lawsuits with the Jesuits, and whose dispo- 
sition was of such a quarrelsome nature as to render 

* M. Alibrandi, advocate for beatification and canonization of the 
Venerable de La Salle. Rome, 1869. 



308 The Life and Work of 

his assertions deserving of but partial credence. 
M. de La Ch6tardie had also been instrumental in 
ill-disposing the archbishop toward the Venerable 
de La Salle. 

P6re Blain refused to be the bearer of so unjust a 
sentence, but another priest agreed to do so. The 
Venerable listened with patience to the messenger. 
** May God's holy name be blessed ! I die like Jesus, 
on the cross,*' said the holy Founder, in reply. The 
man who had refused a legacy rather than sign a 
title he no longer could claim, was thus interdicted, 
because of a supposed falsehood. 

The above, which is an abbreviated recital of the 
supposed censure, is not sustained by the determined 
facts in the case. ** Neither M. Hecquet nor M. 
Dujarrier-Bresnard had any interest in securing 
the censure of M. de La Salle, for he could have 
engaged another priest to say Mass. The interdict, 
requiring that Mass should not be said in the chapel 
on Easter-day, was simply a restriction made upon 
a previously-granted privilege. Moreover, the 
Brothers soon reentered into the full possession of 
their rights. The Prince de Croy, Cardinal-Arch- 
bishop of Rouen, declared, in 1835, that his pre- 
decessors had exempted the Brothers of St. Yon 
from the jurisdiction of the pastors of St. Sever.*'* 

" However this may have been,'* continued the 
same authority, ^' notwithstanding the most obsti- 
nate researches in the archives of Rouen, of the 
parish of St. Sever and of St. Yon, we have been 
unable to find any document containing the pre- 

* F. Lucard, p. 426. 



Tke Ven, J. B. De La Salle, 309 

tended interdict against M. de La Salle ; . . . neither 
does the necrological article, published in 1720, in 
the Flambeau Astronomique, mention it, though this 
publication was under the auspices of the Arch- 
bishop of Rouen/' "^ 

The Venerable de La Salle was nearing his final 
hour. M. Dujarrier-Bresnard called upon him : ^* Do 
you know," said he, " that your days are numbered ? 
The physicians have despaired of your recovery ; 
soon you will appear before your Maker/' *• Yes,'* 
replied the servant of God, " I know this : soon I 
shall see my Saviour. I am resigned to His will ; 
my end is in His hands. May His holy will be done !" 
A conversation of some moments followed, in which 
the Abbe Dujarrier-Bresnard was allowed to read 
the heart of the Venerable servant of God, and to 
perceive the injustices that had been committed 
against him. He wished to hasten at once to the 
archbishopric, and to repair the injury he had done. 
As he retired, he was recalled by the Venerable, 
who said : ** Ifeel that I shall soon be no more; do 
not delay to bring the holy viaticum.'* The pastor 
of St. Sever did not think the danger so imminent, 
and he wished to publicly declare how changed 
his sentiments were. Under instructions from the 
Venerable, the walks through which P6re Bresnard 
was to carry the most blessed sacrament were 
decorated. 

* His Eminence, Cardinal Bonnechose, says that long and minute re- 
searches in the archives of the archbishopric have been unable to reveal 
anything of this reputed interdict, *« although," he adds, ** the registers 
of administration of Mgr. d'Aubign6 seem to present no lacuna " 
i^Dgciaration^ fifteenth November, 1868.) 



3IC The Life and Work of 

Like a valiant soldier, the saintly Founder wished 
to die arms in hand. His faith gave him super- 
natural courage. What was the astonishment of the 
pastor, his fellow-priests, and many persons dis- 
tinguished for their piety, when they beheld the 
dying man, not in his bed of suffering, but prostrate 
on the floor to receive his God ! A short thanks- 
giving, made in the same posture, was more than 
the patient could bear ; he was again placed in 
his bed, where he continued his secret conversa- 
tion with the Spouse of his heart. He had already 
received the bread of angels ; he was soon to hear 
their songs. 

Profiting of a few moments of strength, the Ven- 
erable dictated the following testament: " I recom- 
mend, in the first place, my soul to God, and, next, 
all the Brothers of the Society of the Christian 
Schools, to which He has united me ; and to them I 
recommend, above all things, to have an entire sub- 
mission to the Church at all times, and particularly 
in these troublous days; never in any manner to 
have a disagreement with our Holy Father the 
Pope and the Church of Rome ; ever remembering 
that I have sent two Brothers to Rome, io beg 
grace from God that our society may be ever sub- 
missive to him. I also recommend them to have 
great devotion to our Lord ; to have great love for 
the holy communion and the exercise of mental 
prayer; to have a particular devotion for the Most 
Blessed Virgin, and toward St. Joseph, the patron 
and protector of our society; to discharge the 
duties of their station with zeal and disinterested- 



The Ven, J, B, De La Salle. 311 

ness ; to preserve an intimate union among them- 
selves, and a blind obedience to their superiors, 
which is the foundation and prop of every per- 
fection in the community." 

On Hol3^-Thursday night, after prayer, the most 
honored superior, with the Brothers of the com- 
munity and the members of the novitiate, assembled 
around the bed of the dying patriarch. '' We are 
your children," sobbed the superior; '' we come to 
implore a father's blessing." '' May God bless you 
all!" said the Venerable, in reply. Like Jacob of 
old, he beheld the Joseph of his heart at his feet. 
He had not lands to divide, nor wealth to dis- 
tribute ; but, like the divine Master he had so faith- 
fully imitated, he gave his children the whole world 
as the field of their labors : they were to teach all 
nations that ^* sweet is the yoke and light the bur- 
den " of those who truly serve God, 

After some moments of delirium, the holy Founder 
recovered his presence of mind. His zeal, which 
still burned brightly, urged him to say something 
more to his children, who can never forget his part- 
ing words without ceasing to be his disciples. He 
said : ** If you wish to persevere and to die in your 
holy state, have no transactions with persons of 
the world ; for, insensibly, you will acquire a liking 
for their manners, and you will enter so deeply into 
their conversation that you cannot help praising 
their language, however pernicious it may be. This 
will cause you to fall into infidelity to your rules. 
Being no longer faithful, you will become disgusted 
with your state, and will finally abandon it." 



312 The Life and Work of 

It was not a time to think of worldly affairs, yet 
one of the Brothers expressed some fears for the 
future of St. Yon. In six months they had received 
but three postulants, two of whom had proved ripe 
for heaven already. " In a few years,'' said the 
Venerable, *' there will be a great change in St. Yon ; 
this establishment will acquire a great reputation, 
and will render important services to the whole 

kingdom. Brother N will see this.'' He did 

not promise that happiness to Brother Barthelemy, 
and this was noticed. A short while served to 
verify the prophecy. The superior soon followed 
the Founder, who was fast sinking. Toward mid- 
night he entered into his death-agony. At two in 
the morning he rallied for a moment, and mur- 
mured : " Mary, Mother of grace, of sweetness and 
of clemency ! protect us against our enemies, and 
receive us at the hour of death ! " 

For many years these words had closed each day 
for the Venerable : they were among the last he 
uttered. A moment before his death he was asked 
if he willingly accepted all the sufferings he was 
then enduring. '* Oh ! yes," he replied, " in all 
things I adore the will of God in my regard." 

With this profession of faith, the last embers of 
life were faintly glimmering. Making an effort as 
if to rise and meet one whom he wished to embrace, 
Jean-Baptiste de La Salle breathed his soul into 
the hands of his Creator. The world had lost one 
of its greatest benefactors, the Church one of her 
most faithful sons, and the Institute of the Christian 
Schools its Founder, Heaven had welcomed th§ 



The Ven. J. B. De La SalU. 313 

valiant warrior, who had fought the good fight. 
The steward who had been at first faithful in few 
things, and was afterward placed over many, had 
entered the joy of the Lord. It was Good-Friday 
•norning. 

*' The saint is dead,'* was heard on every side. 
' Yes ; the saint is dead, the holy priest is no more," 
replied Urbain Robinet, * when the Brothers in- 
formed him of the sad event. From every part of 
France where the Brothers were established, or in 
which the Venerable Founder had spent any time, 
the same testimony was received. 

It was Brother Barthelemy'ssad duty, while over- 
come with emotion, to appear brave, and to console 
his numerous family. The letters which he wrote 
bespoke his sorrow and his resignation. The epistle 
which he sent to a director who said that "he 
wished life to close," will amply repay perusal. In 
it he says : — 

'* My dear Brother, may the grace and peace of 
our Lord Jesus Christ be always with us ! 

** It is not without reason that you shed tears in 
learning the death of our very dear father. I do 
not think that a single Brother could forbear from 
weeping, it was so natural to do so. But, all things 
considered, I do not know if we should give our- 
selves up to sterile regrets. We must adore the will 
of God. He left us our father as long as He 
thought well ; He then took him to Himself to 

receive the reward of his holy life and labors. We 

I I I -■ 

* Secretary to the Archbishop of Paris. 

H 



SH The Life and Work of 

must submit, and conform ourselves to His divine 
will. 

'' The holy apostles were very sad at the thought 
of being deprived of the sensible presence of their 
divine Master. To console them, Jesus said : ' It is 
expedient for you that I go, for, if I go not, the Para- 
clete will not come to you ; but if I go, I will send 
Him to you. Our very dear father is not lost to us : 
he is, according to all appearances, with the angels 
and saints. He must have great power in heaven, 
since on earth he obtained so many graces for him- 
self, and for others whom he helped to be converted 
and to give themselves to God. 

" We now admire his great virtues : his evangelical 
poverty ; his zeal for the divine worship ; his great 
taste in all that related to the ornaments of the 
Church and the sacerdotal vestments, for which he 
spared no expense ; his great charity toward the 
poor, though he was extremely needy in living with 
the Brothers ; his zeal for the salvation of souls, which 
inspired him to resign his canonry to accept a 
pastorship; his humility, patience, obedience, and 
abandonment to the will of Divine Providence, and 
many other heroic virtues. I believe he is among 
the virgins, from what I can learn of his chaste 
demeanor. 

** No, no, my dear Brother, I will not ask God to 
take you out of this world; I will pray Him to pre- 
serve you, as long as He may deem proper, fof His 
glory, your own good, and the salvation of souls. 
Do not be unduly sad, for he whom you weep as 
dead liveth. He is in the possession of that peace 



The Ven. J. B. De La Salle. 3 1 5 

of which no man can deprive him. Preserve your- 
self in the practice of the charity and other virtues 
which he so recommended you. Do not sadden the 
Holy Spirit within you by unmeasured grief at the 
death of our dear father. I cannot, indeed, tell you 
my own feelings. I am sad and joyful at the same 
time. Be not cast down ; for the sadness which 
arises not from a movement of the Holy Ghost is 
dangerous, and productive of much evil. When 
inclined to be thus sad, pray. I trust in the Lord 
that He will not abandon us, and that, so long as 
we serve Him according to the spirit of our insti- 
tute, He will bless us.'* 

Brother Barthelemy had previously written a 
letter to Brother Gabriel, at Rome, in which he 
said : — 

" May the grace and peace of our Lord Jesus 
Christ be always with us ! 

" It is with great cause for sadness that I write 
you this second letter, to inform you of the death 
of our very dear father, which occurred on Good- 
Friday morning, at four o'clock. He had previously 
received the last sacraments in a very edifying 
manner. He had been sick the entire Lent, All 
Rouen regrets his death, and looks upon him as a 
saint. His remains were visited by large numbers. 
His grace the archbishop, the vicar-general and 
the president, favor us with their protection. I fulfil 
a duty by sending you the first article of our holy 
father's testament, which relates to all the Brothers 



3 16 The Life and Work of 

of our society. This we must look upon as the last 
instruction and order he has given us. He has also 
written several letters in favor of the Holy Father 
which have done much good.'' 

The funeral ceremonies took place the afternoon 
of Holy-Saturday. Many members of religious 
orders, and other persons of every rank, assisted. 
M. Dujarrier-Bresnard presided. Six Brothers bore 
the body to its resting-place ; the others followed : 
their tears and sobs mingled as a strange but fitting 
harmony with the solemn chant of the psalms. The 
pastor insisted that the remains should be entombed 
in the church, in the chapel of St. Susanna. He 
also placed the following inscription over the 
sepulchre : — 

" Here awaits the resurrection to life Jean-Bap tiste 
de La Salle, priest, doctor in theology, ancient 
canon of the Metropolitan Church of Rheims, 
Founder of the Christian Schools ; illustrious by his 
birth, more illustrious by his virtues. He died oa 
the sixth day of Holy Week, the seventh of April, in 
the year 1719, in the house of the Brothers of St. 
Yon, of this parish, aged sixty-eight years. May 
the Lord grant him to find rest in this day ! 

" This monument of pious gratitude has been 
erected to his most pious parishioner by Louis 
Dujarrier-Bresnard, pastor of this parish/* 



The Ven. J. B. De La Salle. 317 

V D. O. M. 

r • Hie, 

Expectat Resurrectionem 

Vitae Venerabilis 

Joannes-Baptista de La Salle, 

Rhemus Presbyter, Doctor Theologus, 

Ex-Canonicns Ecclesise Metropolitanse Rhemensis, 

Institutor Fratrum Scholae Christianse, 

Natalibus clarus, Virtutibus clarior. 

Obiit Feria Sexta Parasceves, 

Die septima Aprilis, Anno MDCCXIX. 

In .^dibus Fratrum Sancti Yonii hujusce Parochiae, 

Annum agens LXVIII. 



Det illi Dominus invenire Requiem in ilia Die. 



Hoc Pietatis et grati Animi Monumentum 

Opposuit tarn piissimo Parochiano 

Ludovicus Dujarrier-Bresnard, Ecclesiae Rector. 



BOOK III. 

THE WORK CARRIED ON. 



CHAPTER I. 

State of the Institute at the Death of the Venerable. — Brother Barth6- 
lemy's Demise. — Brother Timothy elected Superior. — Letters-patent 
secured for St. Yon. — Pope Benedict XIII approves the Society. — 
A General Chapter receives the Bull. —The Venerable's Remains trans- 
ferred to St, Yon. — Imposing Ceremonies.— Brother Gabriel returns 
to France. — His Death. — Brother Timothy resigns.— Brother Claude 
elected. — Literary Character of those Days. — Election of Brother 
Florence. — His Resignation. — Brother Agathon. — His Career and 
Sufferings. — The Revolution. — Martyrs. — Brother Frumence named 
Vicar-General. — School in Lyons. — Pius VII visits the Community. — 
Napoleon I. — Cardinal Fesch. — Brother Gerbaud elected Superior. — 
His sudden Death. — Brother William of Jesus succeeds him. — School 
Books prepared. — Brother Anaclet elected Superior. — The Prepara- 
tory Novitiate. — Evening Schools. 

At the death of the Venerable de La Salle, the 
institute comprised twenty-seven houses, two hun- 
dred and seventy-four Brothers, nine thousand 
eight hundred and eighty-five scholars. This was 
the legacy left to the intelligent care of Brother 
Barthelemy. Fortunately for the society, the most 
honored superior's worth was equalled by his 
modesty. His amiable disposition, which his plain 
appearance did not at first indicate, gained him all 
hearts. ** I saw,'* wrote the Bishop of Macon, ** the 
superior of the Brothers when he passed through 



3^0 The Life and Work of 

our episcopal city ; he is not handsome- visaged, but 
he wrote me so nice a letter that it deserves to be 
printed : it has attached me forever to the Brothers 
of the Christian Schools/* The Brothers gathered 
about him with their submission and their sym- 
pathies. They rendered his task as light as possible. 
He visited the communities, and deserves special 
gratitude for the prudence and zeal with which he 
preserved himself and his inferiors from the foul 
taint of Jansenism. He opened several schools ; 
among others, that of St. Omer. In the colds of 
winter and the heats of summer he travelled on foot. 

Though in the prime of life, this holy religious felt 
that his end was near at hand. Moreover, his heart 
was with the Venerable Founder ; his body alone 
remained on earth. He wished, if possible, to visit 
all his communities once more before going to the 
home of his father. In the first months of 1720 
he began his visitations, and the Brothers noticed 
the force with which their venerated chief spoke 
of eternal things. In May he was with Brother 
Jean, at Paris. One evening, in recreation, he took 
a handful of earth, and turning to the Brother, he 
said : '' Behold, this is all we are ; to this we shall 
soon be reduced ! *' Toward the end of May he 
returned to St. Yon, and feeling his end at hand, 
called for a reverend father in whom he had great 
confidence, and made a general confession. 

Brothers John and Joseph were sent for, but, 
despite their haste, they arrived only to take part 
in the sad ceremony of his burial. 

In dying, the departing general exclaimed : "O, 
how happy I am ! I see the Most Blessed Virgin 



The Ven. J. B. De La Salle. 321 

and our Venerable father, M. de La Salle : they are 
coming to receive me." His remains were placed 
beside those of the holy Founder, On the seventh 
of August, 1720, the Brothers, assembled in general 
chapter at St. Yon, elected Brother Timothy to the 
position of superior-general. 

In his election, the institute was paying a fitting 
tribute to one who had had a large share in the 
love and esteem of the Venerable Founder. He 
had rendered important services in Chartres, Mar- 
seilles and Avignon. The institute rejoiced in its 
new chief, but no one seemed so pleased as Brother 
Iren6e who saw his former director of novices in 
a position for which nature and grace had pre- 
pared him. After the election, sessions were held, 
to collect a statement of such practices as had been 
introduced into the institute, but were not found 
in the *' Common Rules." These formed the matter 
of what are known as ** Rules of Government." In 
this chapter the capitulants also gave the assistants 
charge of the most honored Brother Superior's 
health. This was necessary, for it was generally 
believed that Brother Barthelemy had shortened his 
days by excessive austerities. Brothers Timothy, 
John and Joseph were worthy guardians of the 
interests and honor of the society over which they 
presided. 

The death of Brother Barthelemy, and the old 
age of Brother Thomas, rendered the possession 
of St. Yon very precarious. It was necessary, 
therefore, either to transfer the property to other 
names, or to obtain letters-patent for the society. 
The latter course was selected. 



322 the Life and Work of 

Pontcarr6, who still continued his friendly rela* 
tions with the Brothers, took charge of the matter ^ 
and presented the memoir prepared by Brother 
Timothy, under date of January, 1 721, to Louis XV* 
He also obtained the influence of Mgr. Bezons, 
Archbishop of Rouen, then in Paris. 

The papers were on the point of being issued, 
when the archbishop was prematurely called to 
give an account of his stewardship. 

Brother Thomas, the surviving member in whose 
name the property was held, went to see M. de 
Tressan, a special admirer of the Venerable de La 
Salle's work. At the sight of this pale and vener- 
able old man, the prelate understood the necessity 
of speedily procuring the desired letters. 

They were accordingly issued, through the influ. 
ence of his grace, in the month of September, 1724. 
It was also to be the glory of Brother Timothy's 
administration that he was to obtain the papal re- 
cognition of the Brothers of the Christian Schools. 
Many negotiations were necessary, and two popes, 
Clement XI and Innocent XIII, were to have been 
addressed, but it was only under Benedict XIII 
that the favor was granted."^ 

That pope, in honoring whose memory history 
does honor to itself, considered it one of his grandest 
acts that he had approved of the Brothers of the 

* Benedict XIIT was elected May twenty-seventh, 1724, while the 
Bull bears date of the seventh of the Kalends of February, 1724. 
This apparent discrepancy is due to the mode of computing the year. 
The Roman Court, in dating Bulls, began the year with March twenty- 
fifth. Therefore every document issued between that day and the first 
of the January previous would bear for date a year less than that ordi- 
narily laid down. So what, in the language of the Roman Court, 
was the seventh of the Kalends of February, 1724, in civil computa' 
tion is to be regarded as the twenty-sixth of January, 1725. 



The Ven, J, B. De La Salle. 323 

Christian Schools: " He was rejoiced that he could 
thus give another proof of the incessant fecundity 
of the Church." 

In nothing could Benedict have better shown his 
esteem for the work in which the Brothers are en- 
gaged than by stating, in the conclusion of the 
Bull of Approbation, that the members were not 
to leave the society to enter a more austere order, 
without the express permission of the superior. 
A general chapter, opened at St. Yon on the ninth 
of August, 1725, received the Bull of Approbation. 
Rev. P. Bodin, S. J., and two assistants, preached 
the retreat which the capitulants made before con- 
sidering the election of a superior, for Brother 
Timothy insisted upon resigning. His wishes were 
disregarded, however, and the thirty delegates 
unanimously continued him in his office. Brother 
John, whose age and services entitled him to an 
honorable retreat, was relieved from the position of 
assistant, at his own request. Brother Joseph was 
continued in his office, and Brother Irenee replaced 
the retiring member. The chapter was closed by 
the benediction of the Most Blessed Sacrament, 
during which the most beautiful vestments, pre- 
sented to the society by the Venerable de La Salle, 
were used. 

In 1734, the Brothers had the great happiness of 
receiving the body of their Venerable father in their 
chapel of St. Yon. 

Sixteen ecclesiastics bore the remains in triumph, 
while four others acted as pallbearers. Over thirty 
thousand persons went before or followed the relics 
of the Venerable servant of God. Many Brothers 



324 The Life and Work of 

from various cities were also present, and followed 
the body, each bearing a lighted taper in hand. 
Ladies of the highest nobility and rank had already 
taken their places in the chapel. 

Places were also reserved for the president of 
the parliament of Rouen, the chancellor and the 
attorney-general, who honored the procession by 
their presence. The dean of the chapter, the pastors 
of the four city churches and their assistant priests, 
were also among the grateful public that paid a 
fitting tribute to the Venerable de La Salle. It 
was not an hour in which a panegyric could be pro- 
nounced. The people had spoken by their love and 
appreciation: a less eloquent tribute would have 
been inappropriate. 

The ceremonies were to have been presided over 
by his grace, the most reverend archbishop, but M. 
Bridelle, archdeacon of the metropolitan church 
and vicar-general of the diocese, replaced him. 
The prelate, whose occupations did not permit him 
to assist two days in succession, dedicated the chapel 
on the following day. It had only been completed 
in time to receive the mortal remains of its architect. 

The Roman rite, which had been introduced by 
the Venerable de La Salle at St. Yon, was continued 
by Brothers Barth61emy and Timothy. By special 
permission, the Brothers were allowed to continue 
this rite, though the missals were not according to 
the text used in the archdiocese. 

Brother Gabriel, who had been instrumental in 
giving the Brothers so favorable a character in the 
Eternal City, was permitted to return to France, 
shortly after these joyful occurrences. He was 



The Ven, J, B. De La Salle. 325 

received by the most honored superior, Brother 
Timothy, and by all the Brothers, as the last of M. 
NyeFs disciples, and as one who had been known 
for a time in Rome as the second Joseph Labre. 
His first request was to pronounce his vows accord- 
ing to the form approved by Benedict XIII. The 
good Brother, in 1691, had vowed *'to sustain the 
Christian Schools, even if he were obliged to beg his 
bread \' now, with Brother Timothy as witness, and 
the Brothers of St. Yon as a delighted audience, he 
pronounces the new formula, which he had already 
so faithfully observed. It was a matter of pious 
discussion as to what community would have the 
happiness to welcome the veteran into its hospitable 
bosom. All wished to honor the man whom the 
Venerable had selected as "Roman envo3^'* In 
exchange for the charity and affection by which he 
found himself surrounded, he gave the brightest 
examples of simplicity and obedience. It was the 
dehght of the young and the pleasure of the old to 
hear his impressions of the City of the Seven Hills, 
and of its numerous consecrated spots. He died at 
Auxonne, in 1733, full of virtues and merits. 

Brother Timothy governed the institute during 
thirty-one years. His firmness of character and 
knowledge of men entitled him to the continued 
confidence of the society. During his administra- 
tion were opened no less than seventy establish- 
ments. Such services endeared him to the institute 
at large, and it was only after repeated solicitations 
that his resignation was accepted August third, 
175 1. Death overtook, but did not surprise him, 
January seventh, 1752. He was seventy years old. 



326 The Life and Work of 

The general chapter which received Brother 
Timothy's resignation elected Brother Claude, 
Director of Avignon, as his successor. In the 
chapter held at St. Yon, July tenth, 1761, he sought 
to resign, but he found his appeals in vain. He 
referred to the growing infirmities of his age ; yet 
the capitulants still refused, and he was obliged to 
continue till the ninth general chapter, held May, 
1767. In this he was relieved, but lived eight 
years, preparing for his final rest, which he entered 
at the age of eighty-five, being the last Brother, 
probably, who had known the Venerable de La 
Salle. 

At this time infamous writers, under the direction 
of Voltaire, were doing all in their power to destroy 
the mind of youth, by polluting the sources whence 
it was to drink. History was falsified, a superficial 
philosophy attacked truth, and libertinism kept pace 
with the march of new ideas. In the midst of such 
sad scenes and times the Church proved her strength. 
The religious life was the chief object attacked ; its 
spirit was decried as one of abasement, which de- 
prived man of his free-will and liberty. God came 
to the rescue, and religious houses, especially the 
novitiates of the Brothers, were crowded. It was 
in the midst of such occurrences that Brother 
Florence took the reins of government. He served 
for ten years, after which neither the tears of his 
Brothers, nor their supplications, could induce him 
to continue in office. He had fixed his residence at 
Paris, in 1770, and some years later at Melun. His 
comparative youth had made the society hope for 



The Ven. J. B. De La Salte^ 327 

tnany years of his government, but his determina- 
tion to resign having prevailed, he was given the 
direction of Avignon. He was but fifty-two years 
old. During the latter years of his life he suffered 
imprisonment and many other trials, but remained 
unshaken in his adhesion to religion and his vocation. 
He died in 1800, when France was beginning to 
breathe freely after the horrors of revolution. 

To Brother Agathon, one of the most distinguished 
generals, is due the credit of having made special 
regulations for the welfare of the sick and infirm. 
He had been professor of hydrography at Brest, and 
had been director of the boarding-school of Angers. 
To scientific qualities of a high order he added vir- 
tues of the purest t)^pe. Much was expected of 
his administration, and these hopes were realized. 
He established a normal-school at Melun, and pre- 
scribed special rules for the direction of the novi- 
tiates. His explanation of the '' Twelve Virtues 
of a Good Master '* founded upon the draught of a 
manuscript prepared by the holy Founder, and 
greatly appreciated by his first disciples, has given 
this confessor of the faith his greatest renown. 
Though a slender volume, it has been pronounced 
a masterpiece by the most competent judges. It 
created so favorable an impression, and was at once 
so fully appreciated, that, within the lifetime of its 
author, almost every living language had its trans- 
lation. The superior-general of another religious 
order, having examined it, was so struck by its 
accuracy and depth of thought, that he presented a 
copy to the Censor of Books in Rome. This learned 



328 The Life and Work of 

critic, having carefully read it, not only approved 
its publication and translation, but added expres- 
sions showing the exalted idea he had formed of the 
work and its author. 

Treatises on arithmetic and the French language 
also show how faithfully he employed his leisure 
moments. He governed the institute with rare 
prudence and ability. He went around visiting the 
various communities, and it gave him great pleasure 
to find ** that everywhere the primitive fervor was 
kept in its vigor.*' 

" Brother Agathon,'* says an anonymous biogra- 
pher, ** was at once a cabinet officer and a business 
man. Under his vigilant administration the Broth- 
ers' colleges attained a very great reputation. The 
institute had one hundred and twenty-one communi- 
ties and one thousand Brothers, when the decree of 
February thirteenth, 1790, ordered the suppression 
of orders and congregations of both sexes. The teach- 
ing bodies were not directly attacked then, but their 
respite was of short duration. Brother Agathon 
was not a man to submit quietly to an unjust decree, 
and he appealed to the assembly, stating that, 
relying upon the faith of the government, many 
Brothers had grown old in the service of youth, 
and that the decree of suppression deprived such of 
the home they had looked forward to for their old 
age. Moreover, he said that the Society of the 
Brothers could not be included in the ''exterminating 
law,'' since it devoted all its energies for the benefit 
of the people, in whose name it was pretended the 
onerous decree was published. *' Reason and jus- 



The Ven, J. B. De La Salle. 329 

tice/* says Poujoulat, " would have listened to such 
arguments, but these had been driven from our midst 
in those days ; his remonstrances were of no avail with 
an unreasoning mob, that ruled the hour in the name 
of liberty/' All the Brothers resolutely refused to 
take the oath required, andprotested against leading 
their children to services presided over by schismati- 
cal priests ; thereupon Brother Agathon issued a cir- 
cular-letter permitting his inferiors to retire to their 
homes till such time as Providence would be pleased 
to take pity upon their unfortunate country.* The 
decree of August eighteenth declared that ** a free 
state should not suffer the existence of any corpora- 
tion, not even of those which ^ being devoted to public in- 
struction^ had merited well of the country'' Thus, in 
striking these institutions, the state could not refuse 
to compliment them. This decree was illegal in it- 
self, for it had not received the sanction of the king. 

The reign of blood commenced ; the prisons were 
filled : they were so many vestibules to the scaffold 
Brother Salomon, secretary to the superior-gen- 
eral, had gone out with the latter, and, in the con- 
fusion then reigning, lost his companion. While 
seeking to retrace his steps to St. Sulpice, he was 
taken by the revolutionary mob, and conducted to 
the convent of the Carmelites, Rue Vaugirard, 
where, having refused to take the oath, he met 
death in the massacres of the second and third of 
September. 

*' Brother Abraham was already in the hands of 
the executioners, when a national guard cried out: 

* He had received special powers to this effect from the Holy See. 



330 The Life and Work of 

' I know that Brother ; he taught school till the 
moment of his arrest. He has done no harm : I shall 
be his security/ The poor Brother, forthwith re- 
leased, hastened to the bosom of his family."* 

Brother Florence, former superior, and Brother 
Agathon, were incarcerated ; the latter escaped 
death only through the interference of Bourdon de 
rOise, member of the Convention. Many Brothers 
lost their lives under the guillotine; among others, 
Brother Martin, whose courageous words are still 
remembered. When called before the revolution- 
ary tribunal at Avignon, he said : '' I am a teacher, 
vowed to instruct the poor. If your expressions of 
love for the people are sincere, my position entitles 
me to your consideration; if your principles of 
fraternity are not vain formula, I may claim your 
gratitude.*' Such words were a direct passport 
to the block. '' In those days courts condemned ; 
they did not judge.^f 

After eighteen months of imprisonment. Brother 
Agathon was released. He hastened from Paris to 
Tours, where he spent his remaining days in prayer 
and affliction. In the month of August, 1797, he ex- 
pired, and had the consolation, in his last moments, of 
seeing two Brothers, who recited the prayers, and 
assisted him in his preparation for the last sacra- 
ments. He was seventy-six years old, and had 
proved his attachment to the institute by corre- 
sponding, as often as circumstances would permit, 
with the Brothers of the three communities in Italy : 
two at Rome, and one at Ferrara. He had also 

* *' Vie du Frere Philippe," par Poujoulat, p. 24. f I^id., p. 25. 



The Ven. J. B. De La Salle. 331 

given his consent to the appointment of Brother 
Frumence by the Holy Father, Pius VI, as adminis- 
trator, or vicar-general, of the society. When the 
French entered Rome, in 1798, the two communi- 
ties were closed, and only those of Ferrara and Or- 
vieto remained. The latter had been established a 
short time previously. In 1800, Napoleon permitted 
the Roman houses to be reopened. 

In the midst of these trials the Brothers received 
special marks of esteem w^herever they could con- 
tinue their ministry, even indirectly. In 1797, they 
had been imprisoned in Laon, upon the report of a 
schismatical priest ; but the mothers of the children 
assembled in such numbers, and in their own way 
gave such positive marks of indignation at the im- 
prison ment of such men, that they were forthwith 
released. A banquet was immediately prepared in 
the schoolyard, at which the Brothers and pupils 
assisted, while the mothers waited upon them. It 
was a proud day for the teachers, one that cannot 
be forgotten. In this city, also, a Brother, whose 
writing had secured him a position as secretary in 
the military bureau, saved the original of the Bull 
of Approbation of the society, as well as several 
relics of the Venerable de La Salle. These are 
now piously preserved, and are in the keeping of 
the Regime. 

On the second of May, 1802, after the signing of 
the Concordat, the Brothers were permitted to re- 
unite, and their first establishment was opened in 
Lyons on the feast of the Exaltation of the Holy 
Cross. A venerable old Brother, Francis of Jesus, 



332 The Life and Work of 

who had taught as a secular, was the instrument 
of this happy revival. His children were so well 
formed, that many asked where the teacher had 
acquired his method. Upon declaring himself a 
Christian Brother, he was encouraged by Abb6 
Girard, Vicar-General, to seek some other members 
of the disbanded society, to form a community. 

Brother Francis knew but one, Fr^re Pigmenion, 
who was employed as teacher at Condrieu. He 
wrote for him ; but the good Brother, so happy in 
being recalled to his holy state, arrived only in 
time to witness the last moments of Brother Francis, 
who died on Good- Friday, 1802. He was sixty-nine 
years old. Left alone, but not discouraged. Brother 
Pigmenion opened a school. Three postulants 
presented themselves, of whom but one persevered, 
Brother Augustin, who died in Paris, in 1869, aged 
ninety-three years. 

Napoleon's attention was called by Cardinal 
Fesch to the good that had been done by these 
Christian teachers. Brother Frumence, with three 
companions, returned to France. It was in the 
former college of the Jesuits, in Lyons, occupied 
by the Brothers after the Revolution, that the vicar- 
general and his associates were welcomed on 
October twenty-first, 1804. In 1805, Pius VII, who 
had returned from the consecration of the emperor 
who was to dethrone him three years later, passed 
through Lyons, and honored the Brothers* com- 
munity by his paternal visit. He was accompanied 
by four cardinals. He blessed the renovated chapel 
and the re-born institute. His words were con- 
sidered as the harbingers of brighter days. 



The Ven, J. B. De La Salle. 333 

The Mayor of Orleans, in welcoming back the 
Brothers, said : ** It is time that justice should be 
done to men who lost their positions in the disastrous 
days through which we have passed, only because 
they filled them too well.'* 

When some individuals complained that Napoleon 
wished to exempt the Brothers from military service, 
he pointedly remarked : " I do not know what sort 
of fanaticism some persons manifest against the 
Brothers ; everywhere I am asked to reestablish 
them : this general cry shows their utility. The 
least that Catholics can expect is equality ; and, cer- 
tainly, thirty millions of men deserve as much con- 
sideration as three millions.'*"^ Cardinal Fesch had 
already written a circular-letter to all the disbanded 
Brothers, in which he said : " Brothers are asked 
for in many cities, and they are offered all that is 
needed. In several places their former houses await 
their return. Brother Frumence, your superior, is 
inconsolable at not being able to meet all the pious 
demands made upon him. Subjects are needed. 
The harvest is abundant, but the laborers are few. 
I invite you, my dear Brother, and conjure you by 
the zeal with which you are animated for the glory 
of God, the salvation of souls and your own duty, 
to hasten, at the earliest moment, to place yourself 
at the command of Brother Frumence, to be em- 
ployed according to the obligations of your pious 
institute. In so doing, you will give me a gratifica- 
tion that 1 shall never forget. Permit me to assure 

* Poujoulat, *' Vie du Fr^re Philippe." 



334 The Life and Work of 

you that my desire is to protect your congregation, 
and to propagate it. I can also assure you of 
the favorable intentions of his imperial and royal 
majesty in your regard. I salute you cordially/* 

This same cardinal, in a letter addressed, in 1808, 
to Mgr. de Villaret, Bishop of Casal, and chancellor 
of the university, said, **that to the Brothers the 
French people owed the regeneration of their morals, 
and the faith of their fathers.'**^ His eminence was 
endeavoring to procure a large and suitable house 
from the chancellor in which the Brothers might 
open a novitiate and receive the aged and infirm, 
** who would have deserved well of religion and of 
the state.'* June twenty-eighth, 18 10, the society 
was recognized, with all the power and privilege of 
bodies admitted as of public utility. M. Emery, 
superior of St. Sulpice,t was among the Brothers' 
best friends and most powerful agents in the uni- 
versity council. " No one,*' said he, ** esteems the 
Brothers more than I ; and it is a mark of the bless- 
ing of Divine Providence that they have been 
attached to the university." 

It was a great consolation for Brother Frumence 
to see that the society was so favorably regarded 
everywhere, and that, before his death, it would 
have regained part of its ancient splendor, and have 
grown even more vigorous, because of the trials 
through which it had passed. He departed from 
a world in which he had seen so much misery, in 
the sixty-third year of his age, on the twenty-seventh 
of January, 18 10. 

* Poujoulat, •* Vie du Fr6re Philippe," p. 34. 

t This was the editor of Leibnitz' Systema Theologictim. 



The Ven. J. B. De La Salle. 335 

On the eighth of September, of the same year, 
the twelfth general chapter was held in Lyons, 
and Brother Gerbaud, already favorably known as 
the Director of Gros-Caillou, Paris, was elected 
superior-generaL 

At his installation the institute comprised about 
thirty-six communities. During the last years of 
the Napoleonic dynasty and the first of the Restora- 
tion, Brother Gerbaud was in constant anxiety, and 
was constrained to use every lawful means to save 
the young Brothers from military service. After 
many consultations, and through the influence of 
MM. MacCarty, de Villevilleand de Bonald, a favor- 
able solution of the vexed question was obtained. 
The most honored superior, who had learned in the 
midst of these difficulties to appreciate, to its fullest 
extent, the peace and quiet of humble positions, 
sought to resign, in the thirteenth general chapter. 
But his firmness of character joined to his affability 
of manner had created too favorable an impression, 
and he was obliged to continue in office. 

Tn 1819, Louis XVIII expressed the desire that so 
useful and important a congregation should have its 
headquarters or mother-house in Paris. Brother 
Gerbaud assented to the change. A royal ordinance 
of May thirtieth, 1821, approved the municipal 
deliberation which gave the Brothers possession of 
a large establishment. Rue du Faubourg-Saint- 
Martin, which was called *' the house of the Infant 
Jesus.*' The principal portions of this institution 
had been erected by St. Vincent de Paul, and had 
been named in honor of the Infant Saviour of the 



33^ The Life and Work of 

world. The Father of the poor had prepared a 
home for the children of the true friend of youth. 

Brother Gerbaud continued to direct the affairs 
of the institute with that rare prudence and firm- 
ness to which was owing so much of the success 
that blessed it. He had already given twelve years 
to the difficult task of generalship, when a stroke of 
apoplexy called him suddenly away on the night of 
the tenth of August, 1822. He was sixty-two years 
old. One hundred and eighty houses, with twelve 
hundred subjects, attested the zeal with which he 
had labored, and the success which had crowned his 
efforts. It was a noble legacy left to the intelligence 
and piety of Brother William of Jesus, who was 
elected superior-general in the fourteenth general 
chapter. He was then seventy-five years old : *' It 
is time for me to think of death. Do you not know 
that seventy-five grenadiers pursue me?'* he said to 
the capitulants, who heeded not his remonstrances, 
for they saw a bright soul in a somewhat enfeebled 
body. His career proved the justness of the hopes 
that had been placed in him. His activity and zeal 
were surprising in one of his years ; and the life and 
vim with which he impregnated the schools served 
greatly to augment their reputation. The youngest 
Brother was as much an object of his solicitude as 
the one more advanced in years. *' You do not 
Know your happiness,'' wrote he to a young Brother 
who has since grown grey in the institute, *•' in 
entering religion so young. . . . Take care of your 
health ; do not speak so loud as to injure your 
breast." He himself had experienced this happi^ 



The Ven. J. B. De La Salle. 337 

ness of entering young. " He brought with him 
his primitive innocence, and never did his soul know 
evil/' * In consequence, he was always cheerful, 
and never lost the boyish activity of youth. To his 
intelligence the society owes an improved edition of 
the " Schools' Conduct," and he employed Brothers 
of culture and talent in the preparation of works 
suited to the wants of the Christian Schools.f 
He already counted two hundred and ten establish- 
ments, over two hundred and fifty novices and 
postulants, eight hundred teachers in active service, 
and an attendance of sixty-four thousand scholars, 
when, in 1830, God called him to a better world. 
He was in his eighty-third year, and barely escaped 
the horrors of the Revolution of July. 

While thrones were tottering and falling, and 
princely heads were being uncrowned, Brother 
William of Jesus received as successor, in the fif- 
teenth general chapter. Brother Anaclet. He was 
a worthy descendant of so illustrious a body of gen- 
erals. From the time of his entrance into the insti- 
tute, he possessed the modesty and humility that are 
characteristic of the Christian Brothers. '' He knew 
how to keep in the background for a long time his 
penetrating mind, the accuracy of his judgment, and 
the polished culture which he had acquired in the 
world. 'X God's works stand not in need of the 
protection of men : the new superior, despite the 
character of the times in which he governed, directed 

* Relations Mortuaires^ lo Juin, 1 830. 

t Most honored Brother William of Jesus requested Brother Philip to 
prepare a Practical Geometry. The work is still a standard in France. 
X Relations Mortuaires, 25 Sept., 1838, t. i, p. 305. 

15 



338 The Life and Work of 

the interests of the institute with unlooked-for pros- 
perity. Speaking of the difficulties that surrounded 
his administration, the circular, announcing his 
death, says : '* The task was difficult, the burdens 
heavy ; but the most honorable Brother Anaclet was 
rich in resources : he knew how to place them in 
action, and he triumphed. His profound genius sug- 
gested the means to employ ; his piety drew down 
upon them the blessings of heaven/'* During his ad- 
ministration public night-schools were opened ; and 
Guizot, the minister of public instruction, was so 
much pleased with their success, that he did all in his 
power to secure their perpetuation and increase. 
Under his family name of Louis Constantine, Brother 
Anaclet prepared several works for the use of the 
schools. In the October of 1835, he established a 
preparatory novitiate in the mother-house. He was 
greatly, in all these works, aided by Brother Philip. 
Services, so many and so great, rendered to France 
in the name of religion, called forth the generous 
admiration of Guizot. He tendered Brother Anaclet 
the Cross of the Legion of Honor. But the humble 
superior declined the distinction. 

Such multiplied and constant labors told on his 
health. On the sixth of September, 1838, in the 
fiftieth year of his age, he breathed his soul into the 
hands of his Creator. The institute then numbered 
two thousand three hundred Brothers, seven novi- 
tiates, one hundred and seventy-two novices, and 
one hundred and forty thousand scholars. 

In dying, Brother Anaclet must have been greatly 

* Relations Morttmires^ p. 306. 



The Ven. J. B. De La Salle. 339 

consoled at the thought that there was amongst his 
assistants a man whose soul was made to rule, and 
who, as the ninth superior-general, would not only 
continue the good work with a new and magic 
energy, but whose personal ability would give him 
a world-wide name. Upon his memory we will 
dwell a few minutes. 



340 The Life and Work of 



CHAPTER II. 

Brother Philip. — His Character as portrayed some weeks after his death. 
— The World unites in honoring his Memory. — His Works, charitable 
and literary. — Letter of the Cardinal Archbishop of Paris. — The Holy 
Father writes the Panegyric of the deceased General. — Brother Jean- 
Olympe. — Success of his Government. — A Year's Administration. — 
The Society again in Tears. — Most honored Brother Irlide to continue 
the Work. 

Brother Philip is justly considered the second 
Founder of the Institute of the Christian Schools. 
The difficult periods in which his wisdom saved not 
only his own society, but similar organizations that 
depended for existence upon the success of his en- 
deavors ; the universal sympathy created by the 
modesty of his conduct and the fruits of his labors, 
have placed his name, with that of the Venerable de 
La Salle, foremost in the affection of his subjects. ^ 

The world would have us believe that to enter 
a religious house is equivalent to becoming worth- 
less ; it is burying, say they, in the obscurity of the 
convent, those talents given for the benefit of man- 
kind at large. Such examples as that of Brother 
Philip tell the falsity of this assertion. They show 
us the obligation under which youth is to pray for 
light in the choice of a state of life, and for grace to 

* This chapter is partly made up from an article of the writer's in 
Brow7ison's Quarterly Review for April, 1873. The fact will account 
for the coincidences in whole pages. 



the Yen. J. B. de La Salle, 341 

follow the voice of conscience when its dictates have 
been made known to him. God, who wishes that all 
men should come to the knowledge of the truth, un- 
doubtedly gives religious vocations to many young 
persons. In refusing to follow such, when dis- 
covered, or in failing to ask for direction needed 
under such circumstances, do they not render them- 
selves more or less responsible for the good that 
may remain uneflfected ? This question presents 
itself with twofold force in our own day, when there 
are no longer such difficulties encountered in 
embracing a religious life as were surmounted by 
Brother Philip in the prime of his manhood, amid 
dangers which threatened not only such as ventured 
to embrace a religious vocation, but even those who 
dared to profess their belief in Christ. 

" Such men as Brother Philip belong to no 
country ; they are a gift of a beneficent Providence 
to the world at large. Hence we shall say little 
about his youth, save that he was born at Gachat 
(Loire), on the first of November, 1792. About this 
time France was in the throes of one of those 
upheavals of her society which seem a periodical 
occurrence. Amid such horrors and difficulties 
were the early days of young Bransiet spent. 
Divine Providence, no doubt, was thus filling the 
heart of His future soldier with the dread of the 
spirit of the world against which he was afterward 
to wage so spirited a warfare. In looking around 
him with that keen perception that even in his early 
years he possessed, he learned that the great evil of 
the day was the forgetfulness of the Lord. In the 



342 The Life and Work of 

language of the child of Monica, he cried out : ' Lord, 
teach me, in the midst of this world that forgets 
Thy name, — teach me to know Thee, and likewise 
to know myself/ '* His father*s home was made 
the refuge of fugitive priests, who preferred their 
faith to their positions in a schismatical Church. At 
the feet of these good and incorruptible men did 
young Bransiet learn the worth of virtue and the 
price of duty. At this time, also, the institute being 
still scattered. Brother Laure kept a small boarding 
and day-school near Gachat. Thither our youth was 
sent; there he imbibed his vocation for the Brother- 
hood. When Brother Laure had read the appeal 
of Cardinal Fesch to the members of his order to 
reunite, he called his pupils together, and said to 
them : *^ My dear children, I was, before the Revolu- 
tion, a Brother of the Christian Schools, and I 
always regretted having been constrained to aban- 
don my vocation. But I learn, thank God, that 
our society is being reestablished in France, and I 
hasten to become one of it again in Lyons. If any 
among you desire to enter it, also, and to consecrate 
yourselves to God and the education of youth, I 
will endeavor to have you received and formed.''^ 
Several of the students then and there formed the 
resolution to follow this good Brother. An older 
companion of Matthew Bransiet entered the novi- 
tiate in 1807, and was afterward known as Brother 
Anselm.f Several others followed at considerable 
intervals of time. 

* Circulaire Nicrologique et Biographique sur le T. H, Frhre Philippe^ 
1874, p. 10. t He died in 1857, 



The Ven, J, B, De La Salle, 343 

Aware that, when God calls to-day, He may not 
wait for us till the morrow, young Bransiet entered 
the novitiate of the Brothers of the Christian Schools 
on the sixth of November, 1809. His first years 
were spent in the faithful discharge of the humble 
functions that are the ordinary lot of young re- 
ligious teachers. However, even in these early 
days, he gave indications of future usefulness of a 
high order. His aptitude for mathematics devel- 
oped itself at the outset, and at Auray he was 
charged with a special class of coast navigation. 
His clearness of thought, his assiduity in all the 
exercises, joined to a keen perception of the wants 
of his day, in educational questions, raised him 
rapidly in the estimation of his superiors. M. 
Deshayes, the parish priest, a man of great insight 
into character, used to call him a young ancient : 
un jeu7ie vieillard. What lasting and beneficial im- 
pressions he left in the classes he taught, may best be 
testified to by the numerous vocations that were 
fostered by him, both for the religious and the 
clerical life. His pupils loved him, and he loved 
them with no less affection. " I often think of him,'* 
wrote an old pupil of his, forty years afterward, 
" standing on the platform of his desk, governing 
his pupils, and singing with them this Christian and 
beautiful hymn, * 7!:?^/ nest que vanite ! ' "^ His 
intelligent features still remain in my memory ; they 
were so animated, and his eyes so darted upon us 
a kind of magnetic fluid, that it was impossible to 
withdraw from their attraction. So much was I 

* **A11 is but vanity." 



344 ^^^ L^P ^^^ Work of 

under his sway, that I often kissed his garments 
without his perceiving it; and I have always re- 
mained passionately and respectfully attached to 
him.*'* This is the unanimous expression of all 
who ever had the happiness of holding relations 
with Brother Philip. 

A few years, — eight or nine we are told, — after 
Brother Philip had joined the institute, he was 
placed at the head of one of the principal houses of 
his order. He corresponded so well with the expec- 
tations of his superiors, and became so generally 
known to the Brothers, that he was shortly after- 
ward elected to represent his district in the councils 
of the institute ; and in presence of the assembled 
wisdom of the society evidenced so rare a know- 
ledge of its future, that he was marked as one who 
would have a large share in the influence it was to 
wield. Honors rapidly followed; he was elected 
assistant-general in 1836. He created so favorable an 
impression in this new post that he was finally called 
to the position of superior-general, after the death 
of the much-respected Brother Anaclet. 

The new superior-general had not the labor of 
making a name. He had already been so long in 
the public service of the institute, that all expected 
the greatest results from his administration. Nor 
were they to be disappointed. 

There was nothing left undone to cause the insti- 
tute to prosper, both in its spiritual and temporal 

* Letter of the pastor of Chantillon-sur-Loire to the Brother- President 
of the College of Orleans, dated March 3d, 1858. The clergyman was 
Brother Philip's pupil in 181 7. 



The Ven. j, B. De La Salle. 345 

affairs. He had to contend at intervals with the 
enemies of Christian education in the French legis- 
lative councils. Whatever may have been the faults 
of the late emperor, — and his best friends admit he 
had many, — one redeeming quality in him was his 
deference to religious persons. He always expressed 
and manifested the highest esteem for Brother 
Philip, and more than once discountenanced educa- 
tional schemes that seemed indirectly aimed at the 
work which Brother Philip represented. Still, in 
1 86 1, there occurred a serious difficulty between the 
latter and the minister of public instruction. Up 
to that time the Brothers had given the children 
of the public schools in France under their charge 
gratuitous teaching. The small salaries required 
to support them, they received from the municipal 
authorities. But, as early as 1833, ^ ^^^ had been 
established requiring them to receive compensation 
from every child able to pay : this they resisted, as 
being contrary to the customs of their institute. 
They were generally shielded by the various minis- 
ters who came into power, till 1861, when a letter 
addressed to Brother Philip, from the minister, 
declared that, in case of longer resistance, ** the 
government would be obliged to refuse a continu- 
ance of its good-will."* There was no mistaking 
the import of these words. Prompt action was re- 
quired. ** He acknowledged, with the members of 
the general chapter, that longer resistance would 
have been suicidal to the institute ; it became neces- 
sary to cede the point, and take measures to limit, 

* Lettre datee du lo JuiUj i86i. 



34^ The Life and Work of 

at least for the time being, the practical extent of 
gratuity to what was required by the formula of 
vows and the Bull of Approbation of the institute.*** 
Gratuitous teaching he recognized as a means the 
more effectually to accomplish the great end of 
Christian education: as soon as it became an ob- 
stacle, rather than a facility, it was the part of wis- 
dom to set it aside. Seldom did Brother Philip's 
rare business tact appear to more advantage than 
in the negotiation of this delicate affair. Not only 
had he to disarm the hostility of those in power, but 
he had also to reconcile to the new order of things 
Brothers who feared it might interfere with the 
keeping of their vow of teaching gratuitously. In 
both ways he succeeded. 

But other difficulties, still more embarrassing, 
pressed upon the order, and were removed only by 
the consummate tact of Brother Philip. From time 
to time it became a question of no small importance^ 
as to whether teachers ought to be exempt from 
military service. In 1850 a law was passed, in a 
great measure through Brother Philip's influence, 
exempting from military service all teachers who 
were pledged to devote themselves for ten years to 
the education of youth. In 1866 it was attempted 
to force the interpretation of this law in such a 
manner that " all the Brothers dispensed should ac- 
complish their engagements in the public schools." 
This would have interfered materially with the 
workings of the institute, so far as its boarding- 
schools and colleges were concerned. But again 

* Circulaire Nicrologique^ p. 34. 



The Ven, J. B, De La Salle. 347 

the indomitable energy of Brother Philip overcame 
all obstacles. Finally, in 1872, he achieved a triumph, 
not only for the institute of which he is so bright a 
glory, but for all the religious teaching-bodies in 
France. At this time the whole country seemed 
disorganized ; the surrender of Sedan had humiliated 
the nation; men learned that in the new empire 
there was more glitter than gold ; the communists 
had made a desperate struggle to take in hands the 
reins of government : thanks to the genius of Mac- 
Mahon they were unsuccessful : the army was to 
be reorganized; again the Brothers were to be 
pressed into military service ; every Frenchman 
was to become a soldier. How evade the diffi- 
culty which threatened the very existence of every 
religious body in France? Nobly and well did the 
champions of religion fight for them in the national 
assembly ; eloquently did they speak their praises. 
M. Chesnelong, especially, pleaded their cause with 
warmth. ** They proved," said he, " in the last war, 
that they were men to brave it, and that in their 
religious breasts beat hearts of patriots and French- 
men." {A voice from the left :) '' Ah, well, make sol- 
diers out of them."^ This was turning his own 
argument upon him. But Brother Philip had tried 
the efficacy of prayer, as well as his own diplomatic 
skill. While he went round among the members, 
encouraging them in the almost hopeless contest, 
he had the whole institute to pray. Heaven blessed 
his efforts. At the end of a stormy debate, it was 
concluded, by a majority of three hundred and 

* Journal Officiel de VAssemhlec N'ationale, du 13 Juin^ 1872. 



348 The Life and Work of 

thirty-seven votes, that the law referring to teachers 
remain as it had formerly stood. Thus it was that 
this great general was ever foremost in the hour of 
peril; ever on the alert to notice the threatening 
dangers ; ever active to ward them off from his dear 
institute, which he cherished with as strong affec- 
tion as a mother loves her children. 

To continue the good work begun by himself and 
Brother Anaclet, he had several Brothers prepare 
a series of text-books on all subjects taught in the 
Christian Schools. The result was a series of books 
that are used extensively throughout France. 
" They are among the best,'' said an eminent educa- 
tional authority, ** as was recently declared in the 
municipal council of Paris. And that which goes 
to prove it is the use that is made of them by many 
secular teachers, in preference to other works." * 
He kept pace with all the educational schemes of 
the day ; where he saw progress, he recommended 
it. He revised the "Schools' Conduct," bringing 
it up to the present strides made in primary teach- 
ing. A new idea or a new method was not rejected 
because of its novelty, if reason and experience 
combined in approving it. In the letter placed at 
the head of the *' Conduct" of 1863, he w^rote to his 
dear Brothers : '' Teaching has assumed in these 
latter days a particular character, which we must 
take into consideration. Proposing to itself, as 
principal aim, to form the judgment, it gives less 
importance than it formerly did to the cultivation 
of the memory ; it prefers making use of methods 
* Le Correspondant du 25 Janvier^ 1874, p. 408. 



The Ven. J. B. De La Salle. 349 

which exercise the intelligence, and lead the child 
to reflect, to account to itself for facts, and to leave 
the domain of words, in order to enter that of ideas.'* 
Here, in a nutshell, is the embodiment of all that 
is genuine in the modern improvements in teaching. 
To pass from words to things and thoughts, is cer- 
tainly a step in the right direction. 

But he was too enlightened a superior not to 
know that religious men are successful teachers only 
according as they are fervent religious. He there- 
fore took every possible means to revive the zeal 
and pious sentiments of the Brothers. He wrote, 
and caused to be written, books of meditation suited 
to the tastes and occupations of the Brothers. 
They cover the whole ground of the spiritual life. 
All devotions consistent with the spirit of his insti- 
tute, and that had received the approbation of the 
Church, were very dear to him. As the result of 
experience, he found that teachers, more than others, 
need that the conscience, the heart and the relig- 
ious feelings be kept tender, while the mind pro- 
gresses in scientific pursuits. It was his opinion, in 
common with many saints, that no subject is more 
likely to produce this tenderness than the contem- 
plation of the Man of Sorrows. So we have a book 
of meditations upon the '' Passion of our Lord.*' 
** Should we not,*' he asks, "as religious, meditate 
especially on the sacred passion? All in the life 
we have embraced speaks to us of Jesus suffering ; 
His image is constantly before our eyes ; we have 
in hand, and even carry always about us, the sacred 
book which contains the recital of His sorrows." 



350 The Life and Work of 

In harmony with this work, and in similar senti- 
ment, are the treatises on "The Holy Eucharist'* 
and on '' The Sacred Heart/' 

The love of Christ is so closely allied to that of 
His holy Mother, that the author whose devotion 
induces him to write upon the love displayed by 
the Son in the ** banquet of charity," will also feel 
pleasure in relating the wonderful prerogatives of 
her from whose pure substance was taken the sacred 
body which is our portion in the feast of the Lamb. 
One of the freshest of the series is that on the Most 
Blessed Virgin. It deserves a careful reading from 
all those who seek new lights by which to learn the 
beauties of the " Vessel of Singular Devotion.'' 

Not satisfied with inspiring love for Mary, he 
would also promote an ardent attachment to the 
holy patron and protector of the Brothers' Institute. 
His zeal induced him to prepare a work in which 
to utter the praises of the man whom the Scriptures 
call the Just. What the sacred text has not re- 
corded, nor tradition handed down to us, his en- 
lightened piety suggests. His views were founded 
on the strictly devotional aspects of the subject, and, 
as a critic has remarked, in all Brother Philip's 
works on such subjects there is scarcely one, if 
one, reference to miraculous events, piously believed 
to have occurred, or those commonly accepted but 
unapproved relations that form so large a portion 
of even the best works of this nature. From this 
it must not be imagined that he was tainted with the 
" liberalism " that condescends to discard so much 
that is edifying. The '* Catechism in Examples " 



The Ven. J. B. De La Salle. 351 

which he caused to be prepared, wherein each 
sacrament, commandment or dogma is illustrated 
by several historical relations, would disprove the 
charge ; but he seems to have felt that, in speaking 
to religious who, as various authors have remarked, 
are slowest to believe, though strongest in their 
convictions, he should avoid any assertion or pro- 
position, historical, traditional, or of pibus accept- 
ance, unless founded upon the authority of some 
recognized leader in the Church. His practical 
good sense and experience also taught him that all 
true devotion must be founded on the knowledge 
and love of God, and our acquaintance with, and 
detestation of, the lurking passions of our hearts. 
Under such impressions he undertook to prepare 
the " Particular Examen.'' Herein are found three 
hundred and seventeen subjects, bearing on the 
whole range of the duties of the man, the Christian, 
and the religious. These chapters include subjects 
from " The Creation " to that of '' Study." This 
book shows the powers of his searching mind in a 
special manner. It proves him to have understood 
the folds of heart and intellect in an eminent degree. 
But there was one form of composition in which 
Brother Philip's pen was particularly facile and effi- 
cient: it is the writing of circular-letters. In these 
he poured out his whole soul. His iron resolve, his 
virtuous heart, his fatherly care, his tender piety, his 
love for the institute, — all speak with inspiring elo- 
quence from the pages of these letters ; all proclaim 
the broad-viewed intellect, and the large, loving 
heart that embraced the whole world in its charity. 



352 The Life and Work of 

Amid the preoccupations of a life so busily 
employed, good Brother Philip still found time to 
think over, and give expression to, his feelings on 
the sufferings of our Holy Father, Pius IX. There 
was between these two characters close affinity. 
They loved each other dearly. Their hearts beat 
in perfect unison. Therefore, the late injustices of 
which the Sovereign Pontiff was a victim, were a 
source of great anguish to the noble-hearted 
superior. In the circular he issued upon the 
occasion of his last visit to his Holiness, he uses the 
following language, in reference to the gratitude 
manifested by the Supreme Pontiff upon receiving 
through him a donation from the institute. 

"Thanks," said the Holy Father, ** for this filial 
souvenir.*' 

*' Yes, my dear Brothers,'* says the superior, '' it is 
sad, it is lamentable, it is heart-rending, to see the 
Vicar of Christ, heretofore a powerful sovereign, 
needing an alms from his own children, and obliged 
to say * Thank you.' 

" This word will touch you, I am certain, my 
dear Brothers, as it has equally touched us; it 
will inspire you with the noble thought of renew- 
ing this offering; you will have, once more, the 
merit of relieving Jesus Christ in the person of 
His worthy, elevated, illustrious, but sorely-tried 
representative." 

In thus showing his devotion to the Holy See, 
he faithfully imitated the Venerable Founder of the 
institute, who sent special orders to the Brothers in 
Rome to make a visit to the tombs of SS. Peter 



The Ven. y. B. De La Salle. 353 

and Paul, there to pray that his Brothers might 
ever remain faithful to the visible head of the 
Church. 

Brother Philip took a holy pride in his institute, 
because he saw in it the means of doing so much 
good. He experienced great pleasure in seeing 
others having a similar interest in it. Though very 
reticent, as a rule, he never failed to give public 
recognition of esteem to such as had, within their 
sphere, done or said something complimentary to 
the institute. On the occasion of the holding of a 
general chapter, the delegates from America paid 
a visit to the college of Passy, and one of their 
number, after an entertainment, spoke of '' Our 
holy Institute, the model republic." The fact was 
repeated to the venerable superior, and when he met 
the Brother, he embraced him, and said : *' Thanks 
for your filial sentiment : we are all members of this 
republic, and we must all labor to preserve its demo- 
cracy of spirit.** 

It w^as this love and solicitude for his institute 
that led him to desire that some one less unworthy, 
as he thought, should be placed in the position he 
had honored during so many years. A powerful 
appeal, in which the recital of his labors was 
corroborated by his careworn and delicate appear- 
ance, could not induce the chapter to accept a 
resignation which they felt it w^ould be nothing 
more than justice to entertain, under other circum- 
stances. He was thus continued in office, and 
constrained to keep, till the end, a burden he had 



354 ^^^^ I^if^ <^^^^ Work of 

never sought, — one which his virtues and talents 
had imposed upon him, and which his immense 
experience rendered it advisable to insist that he 
should not relinquish. 

Some few months after the close of the general 
chapter, Brother Philip was called to Rome, as 
heretofore narrated, and upon his return felt greatly 
fatigued. His health, which had previously been 
sustained onl)^ through the greatest care, gave 
way under the strain that had been given it, and 
he retired, one morning, after Holy Mass and com- 
munion, never to rise from his modest couch. 

He had now received the highest rewards which 
Divine Providence, the Church, and society can 
bestow in this world. He had witnessed the first 
halo of glory placed around the brow of his Vener- 
able Father and Founder; through the medium 
of the electric current, the blessing of the common 
father of the faithful was sent him, to soothe the 
last hours of a well-spent life; and the Cardinal- 
Archbishop of Paris came, on the sixth of January, 
to pay the debt of gratitude due to one who had 
done so much for Catholicity in France. 

The gay capital was not aware that so powerful 
an interest was centred in a simple Frere des Ecoles 
Chr^tiennes ; still the hand of death was scarcely 
fixed upon him in the early hours of the seventh, 
when thousands called for a public expression of the 
nation's gratitude to the nation's servant. The 
humility of the superior had led him to prescribe 
that the simplicity of his rule should be observed in 



The Ven. % B, De La Salle, 355 

the last obsequies ; but Brother Philip, as has been 
remarked, belonged not only to the Christian 
Brothers, but to the Christian world, and the latter 
insisted upon doing him homage when he could no 
longer resist or escape it. His modesty had re- 
quired that the Cross of the Legion of Honor, 
received during the time of the nation*s greatest 
humiliation, should not be placed upon his breast. 
Gratitude was not to be cheated, however ; as an 
officer, equally decorated, taking his cross from 
his bosom, and placing it upon the noble but pulse- 
less heart of the great general, exclaimed : *' If I have 
deserved this decoration, I owe it to the sentiments 
of religion and patriotism with which Brother 
Philip inspired me/* 

The people had spoken. Nor was the Church 
silent. His Eminence, Cardinal Guibert, of Paris, 
issued a letter to all the clergy in his archdiocese 
upon the death of the Brother. "■ What he has done/' 
says this good successor of martyrs, ** need not be 
repeated here ; the whole world has been a witness 
thereof. He has restored and renewed, in some sort, 
the work of the Venerable de La Salle. He under- 
stood the nature of his mission with rare superiority 
of intelligence, and, without leaving the bounds of 
modesty, governed his society with a power of will 
not less remarkable. By the extension and develop- 
ment which he gave his work, he proved how 
fruitful was the charitable thought that had inspired 
the holy Founder. 

** Brother Philip consecrated himself entirely to 
the service of the people, and he might well say 



35^ The Life and Work of 

that his mission was to teach the poor : Evangelizare 
pauperibus misit me. In addressing youth, he could 
say to them, in the words of St. Paul to the 
Corinthians : ' For, if you have ten thousand in- 
structors in Christ, yet not many fathers who love 
you as I :* Nam si decern millia pcedagogorum habeatis^ 
sednon multos patres. Four hundred thousand chil- 
dren learned from him and his to become good 
Christians, and citizens fit to fulfil all the duties of 
their future professions. , While others spend their 
zeal in spreading false ideas, that lead away the souls 
of youth, excite their wicked passions, and inspire 
the ignorant with thoughts of pride and presumption, 
he labored to make the sons of the people honest, 
and wanting neither in requisite instruction, nor in 
the virtues which are still more necessary. 

" Placed by Providence at the head of one of the 
most important enterprises that have been under- 
taken for the good of humanity, in spite of his 
modesty and the simplicity of his life, he became one 
of the most useful, the most popular, and we may 
even say, one of the most distinguished men of our 
day. No ordinary capacity, zeal and perseverance 
were required to administer, during so many years, 
the affairs of a society spread throughout the world. 
Indeed, all those who became acquainted with him 
were struck by his rare wisdom, as much as by his 
virtue. 

" The death of Brother Philip has given rise to a 
public mourning in the capital. The aisles of the 
great church of St. Sulpice could not contain the 



The Ven. J. B. De La Salle. 357 

crowds that gathered around his modest coffin. 
There were persons of every class, who represented 
all that was noble, respected and religious in society. 
Two cardinals, several bishops, and a great number 
of the clergy, were among the assembly. Their 
presence testified the gratitude of the Church to 
this *good and faithful servant,' and spoke of the 
value placed upon the services of the Brothers of the 
Christian Schools.** 

Not only in France were such honors paid his 
memory ; throughout the entire world, in eleven 
hundred and sixty -one communities, containing two 
thousand one hundred and forty-four schools, num- 
bering seven thousand four hundred and twelve 
classes, prayers were offered for the departed 
general. Where the children of two hemispheres 
manifested such sorrow, their common father could 
not remain silent. The crowning glory of Brother 
Philip's career will be found in the testimony borne 
in his favor by his Holiness, Pius IX, who said : — 

*^ God, who, for the accomplishment and the pro- 
gress of His works, employs fitting instruments, 
who assists by opportune help, and distinguishes by 
His gifts men chosen for this purpose, granted you 
for many years the excellent superior )^ou have just 
lost. To him did He give a sound mind in a sound 
body ; him did He enrich with the spirit of faith and 
charity. And, that he might not be seduced by the 
wind of unsound doctrines that blows in every direc- 
tion, He attached his heart and his mind to this chair 
of truth which your superior always surrounded 
with the worship of an humble veneration and an 



358 The Life and Wvrk of 

ardent love. Such is the source whence he de- 
rived the virtue of fecundity, by which he quintupled 
the family of which he had received the direction, 
and which permitted him to offer its beneficent 
ministrations to the most distant countries. And 
as by a careful and religious training, by the exercises 
of a regular life, through his frequent exhortations, 
and a diligent vigilance over all things, as also by 
his pious writings, your superior had filled the 
members of his congregation with his own senti- 
ments, they have become most useful, not only to 
religion, but likewise to their country, to which they 
rendered admirable services of charity during its 
reverses. It is, therefore, with reason that you weep 
his loss ; but, as his spirit lives and flourishes among 
you, we doubt not that there are many more besides, 
from whom you will elect a man able to preserve 
and to advance the work which your deceased 
superior has developed, perfected, and propagated 
by his prolonged and incessant labors. This we 
desire, and for the purpose we implore the blessing 
of heaven upon you." 

Eleven thousand loving hearts thrilled with grati- 
tude at this mark of affection bestowed upon their 
departed chief, and of sympathy to themselves, by 
the Vicar of Christ. It was not without a holy dread 
that Brother Jean-Olympe took the reins of govern- 
ment, as successor of the great and good Brother 
Philip. He was elected on the ninth of April, 1874. 
His long-continued services as novice-master, and 
the general esteem in which he had been held as 
assistant, gave the fondest hopes for his administra- 



The Ven. J. B. De La Salle. 359 

tion. The love he constantly manifested for the 
aged, and his kindness to the young, gained him all 
hearts. In the first twelve months of his generalship 
he had opened no less than thirty communities ; 
but all the cherished hopes of his children were 
chilled at the unexpected intelligence that cast a 
gloom over the institute, when its members learned 
that, on the seventeenth of April, 1875, their vener- 
ated general had gone to receive his reward, after 
an illness which had declared itself on the anniver- 
sary of his election. During his generalship, he had 
shown many marks of special confidence to his fifth 
assistant. Brother Irlide, in whose zeal and intelli- 
gence he had great reliance. In this confidence the 
entire council concurred ; and when the Brothers 
from the four quarters of the globe had again as- 
sembled, to Brother Irlide was given the task of 
continuing the work of the Venerable de La Salle. 
The prayer of his numerous children is that he may 
be long left to them. 



360 The Life and Work of 



CHAPTER III. 



The Venerable de La Salle and his Work — His Virtues. — Gratitude of 
the Church and her Children. — The Monument at Rouen. — Extracts 
from the discourses. — The one Thing still asked by the Catholics 
World for the Venerable de La Salle. ----- 360 



In the scope of the work established by the 
Venerable de La Salle, every form of intellectual 
want finds its fitting place ; the success that has 
blessed the work is due to a method which has 
deserved the praise of men whose greatest satisfac- 
tion would be to chronicle its failure. But this Vener^ 
able Founder could scarcely have foreseen the full 
extent of the magnitude of the work he had begun. 
That were not in keeping with the greatness of his 
soul. Few great men die in splendor. When saint- 
liness of life is combined with greatness of action, 
they leave the field of their labors with an air of dis- 
appointment, accounting themselves unprofitable 
servants, whose efforts failed because of their un- 
worthiness. Only the Master of action could say, 
'* It is consummated/* Only He could compass the 
whole length and breadth, and depth and height, of 
His work. To all others is it given but to approach 



The Ven. y. B. De La Salle. 361 

more or less proximately the ideal of action in their 
minds ; and looking rather to what they have not 
done than to what they have done, they count their 
lives of small worth, and wonder why men applaud 
such failures. But this weakness of their nature is 
the source of their strength. They do so much, 
because they think they are doing so little: the 
Venerable de La Salle was no exception to the rule. 
The guiding principle of his life was such as to 
foster these sentiments of humility and self-de- 
preciation. That principle was the spirit of faith. 
He was so impregnated with it, that he infused it 
into his institute, and it has also become the secret 
of its success. "The spirit of this order,'* says he, 
in the Rules and Constitution of the Brothers, " is, 
firstly, a spirit of faith, which should engage those 
who compose it to look upon everything with the 
eye of faith, to do all their actions for God, and to 
attribute all to him. Those who have not this spirit y 
those who have lost it^ should be regarded as dead mem- 
bers, and they should look upon themselves as sueh, be- 
cause they are deprived of the life and grace of their 
state.*'* What a grand protest against the scepticism 
of the age is not the life of a Brother so actuated ! 

The Comtist may deny the existence of God ; the 
Cosmist may relegate Him to the unknowable; 
the Pantheist may identify Him with nature; but 
the Christian Brother lives under His eye, confess- 
ing His name, proclaiming His threefold personality, 
adoring His holiness, thinking of His presence. A 
life so actuated must needs be a holy life. 

* Rules, p. 22. 
16 



A 



362 T^ Life and Work of 

The Venerable Founder's letters breathe the sartie 
holy spirit of implicit faith. It was his heart's 
desire to see the Brothers looking upon everything 
as God considered it, free from all human motives. 
The confidence which this sublime and heroic faith 
produced was equally remarkable. In the midst of 
danger and trial he was calm and hopeful. When 
others hoard up their treasures for days that 
threaten to be sad, he gives his whole substance 
to the poor, relying upon Him who feeds the birds 
of the air. Where good is to be done, he never 
hesitates; once the will of God is manifested, he 
begins to act; he does his share, satisfied that 
God, who never allows Himself to be outdone in 
generosity, will supply the rest. His charity like- 
wise led him to sacrifice himself for the little ones 
of Christ. For these he relinquishes position and 
emoluments; he becomes poor with the indigent, 
and breaks to hitherto famishing souls the bread of 
the word of God. In every circumstance he cried 
out : " Lord, what wilt Thou have me to do ? Speak, 
Lord, Thy servant heareth." He is called to form a 
body of teachers, and his charity induces him to in- 
struct the smallest children in the simplest elements ; 
his love of his neighbor makes him desire to succor 
all who suffer, to console all who mourn, to bear 
the burdens of all who are heavily laden. What 
humility, joined to Christian independence, do we 
see in all his undertakings ! He never did anything 
to secure the favor of men. In all things he vows 
to do what will be for the best, without regarding 
human motives, or what men may say. But there 



The Ven. J. B. De La Salle. 363 

is one thing he prefers: it is to obey rather than 
command. The good child is not more docile 
than he. His whole life is a struggle to avoid 
honors and responsibilities, which pursue him all the 
more earnestly. He looks, upon himself as a worm 
of the earth, and the least of men; he is nothing in 
his own eyes ; if success crown his efforts, to God 
is given the glory. "Praised be His holy name," 
he says in his greatest afflictions, as in his most 
prosperous hours. His spirit of simplicity leads 
him to entertain extraordinary devotion to the Divine 
Infancy, which appears in all his writings. He 
places his institute under the special protection of 
the Holy Infant, and rejoices most amid the poverty 
of Vaugirard, which recalls to his mind the events in 
Bethlehem. In all the storms of passion he found 
in prayer a precious oil to throw upon the troubled 
waters of his soul, and calm ensued. When humili- 
ation pursued him, he had a chosen retreat to 
which he betook himself for strength and resig- 
nation ; he had a bosom friend to whom he addressed 
himself with the certaint)^ of being heard. To Him 
he opened his bleeding heart, and there received 
the embraces of the Divine Consoler ; there he 
rested, free from the imputations of men who could 
not understand his acts, nor the intention with 
which they had been performed. When his soul 
was in agony, caused by the malicious tongues and 
the wicked pens of exulting enemies, he had a 
chosen harbor whither he directed his steps ; he 
prostrated himself in silent, but imploring prayer 
before the Divine '' Prisoner of the Tabernacle.*' 



364 The Life and Work of 

Each morning, even when excruciating pain was 
his portion, the Venerable servant of God hastened 
to the altar to offer the Lamb of propitiation there- 
with all the actions of the incoming day. In 
presence of this Spouse he could spend not only one, 
but many hours, watching with the Sacred Heart 
that never slumbers. His ardent belief in the real 
presence made him see the love, the beneficence, 
the beauty of the mystery of the Blessed Eucharist. 
There he was inspired with that hope that led 
him to expect all from Him who strengthens us; 
and when the day was over, when another bead 
had been added to his chaplet of life, with what 
love he prostrated himself anew before the " Silent 
Watcher,** and begged Him to bless the closing 
hours of a day in which he had endeavored to pro- 
cure His glory and to extend His kingdom ! The 
holy Founder's only desire was to be dissolved 
and to live with Christ ; and as he knew that we 
cannot suddenly love that which we have studi- 
ously or through carelessness avoided, he ever bore 
in mind that, to sing the praises of the Lamb in 
eternity, men must learn the first notes of the 
heavenly music on earth, by prayer and good 
deeds. 

To maintain this spirit, he recommended and 
practised devotion to Jesus, to His blessed Mother, 
Mary, and to His foster-father, St. Joseph. From 
meditation on the sufferings of the sacred humanity 
of Jesus, he learned how to bear up with the trials 
that surrounded him in life ; from his affection for 
Mary, in whose immaculate heart he loved to find 



the Ven, J, B, De La Salle. 365 

rduge in hours of temptation, he imbibed that un- 
sullied chastity that shone so conspicuously as to 
enable Brother Barthelemy to say of him that he 
** believed him to be among the virgins;" from his 
contemplation of St. Joseph — his retired life, his 
sublime charge, his sanctity — he strengthened in 
himself that spirit of retreat and flight from the 
world which he so urgently recommends to his 
children, and found in him a powerful protector in 
whose name he consecrated his institute to God ; 
and under his patronage it became so useful to the 
Church as to lead Pius IX to say that " it seems to 
have been estabHshed rather for our day than for 
his own time/' To preserve his Brothers in this 
spirit of faith and piety by which he and they were 
animated, he urged upon them to practise mental 
prayer. This he regarded as the most powerful 
means of preserving union with God. ** Mental 
prayer," he used to say to them, *'must be your 
principal support ; never, therefore, fail in it, save 
when ill. It will dissipate the darkness and igno- 
rance of your mind. . . . You are in the presence 
of God : what a favor ! Be not anxious for sensible 
devotion : rather fear and distrust it/' 

Such a life, in which the glory of God was pro- 
cured, not only in the practice of the most heroic 
virtue, but likewise in the benefits mankind have 
derived therefrom, could not remain without the 
public recognition of the Church and her children ; 
and there is every reason to look for the near ap- 
proach of the day when the *' true friend of youth " 
will have altars erected under his patronage wher- 



^66 The Life and Work of 

ever stands a school in his name and that of his 
institute. 

On the eighth of May, 1840, Gregory XVI per- 
mitted the cause of La Salle*s canonization to be 
introduced into the Roman courts, and then de- 
clared him Venerable. On the twelfth of Septem- 
ber, 1840, the decree stating that no public homage 
had been rendered the Venerable, was published ; 
the twenty-second of September, 1842, another 
decree, determining the reputation of the Venerable, 
because of the sanctity of his life, was issued ; on 
the sixteenth of April, 1842, the proceedings at 
Rome were approved ; those of Rheims and Rouen 
were also admitted on the sixth of September, 1846. 

The Archbishops of Paris, Rheims and Rouen 
were next instructed to collect all the writings of the 
Venerable, and to submit them to the examination 
of theologians. The research was prolonged and 
close ; and though many writings had been in part 
prepared by La Salle, it was decided, on the tenth 
of January, 1852, that, with the exception of thirty- 
four autograph letters, it was not certain that the 
works submitted had been written by him. They 
were, therefore, thrown out as of no value as 
testimony. Next, the process of beatification was 
continued by an examination of the virtues of the 
Venerable servant of God. 

On the thirtieth of November, 1873, the Sacred 
Congregation of Rites, in public session, presided 
over by the Sovereign Pontiff, decided that '* the 
Venerable servant of God, Jean Baptiste de La 
Salle, has practised the theological virtues of faith, 



The Ven. J, B. De La Salle. 367 

hope and charity, toward God and toward his 
neighbor; as also the cardinal virtues of prudence, 
justice, temperance and fortitude, and their depen- 
dent virtues, in a heroic degree/' 

The Church, therefore, has for the present given 
all the honor to the Venerable servant of God that 
the circumstances, and the rigid character of her pro- 
ceedings, will allow. But the world, which sees the 
good that is derived from the work of the Venerable 
de La Salle, has not waited for the final verdict of 
our holy Mother before paying its debt of gratitude. 
This it generously requited on the second of June, 
1875. On that day, in the city of Rouen, it erected 
a monument to the Venerable Jean Baptiste de La 
Salle. 

The monument is worthy of the subject. The 
arms of Rheims, his native city ; those of his noble 
family; those of the institute that he founded ; those 
of Rouen, the beloved city in which he placed 
the cradle of the institute, where he died, and 
where his precious remains are preserved, will 
be found represented. The bas-reliefs, which per- 
petuate the memory of two remarkable incidents in 
the Venerable*s life, will also be noticed : the first 
represents him distributing his patrimony to the 
poor; in the other, James II is seen visiting the 
school- room in which the fifty 3^oung Irish iads 
were instructed. At the four corners are figures of 
the children who represent every part of the world. 
This is one of the most pleasing features of the 
monument. " O little children ! how eloquent you 
are ! and how much better than the most brilliant 



368 The Ven. J. B, DeLa Salle. 

discourse you speak the glory of the Venerable de 
La Salle ! "^ From the base of the fountain gush 
forth limpid streams, symbolical of the instruction 
which has been distributed to the people by this 
great servant of God.f 

France has paid her tribute to the genius of 
modern education, but the Catholic world still 
clamors for other honors : she appeals to Rome to 
crown the saint. Four hundred thousand children 
and twelve thousand Brothers ask to repeat aloud : 
** Blessed Jean-Baptiste de La Salle ^ pray for us who 
have recourse to thee,'' The supplication would be 
reechoed by millions, from all quarters of the globe. 
Rome abides her time; but the day cannot be 
far distant when the pious wish will be fulfilled. 

* Ghantrel, Monument du Ven, de La Salle j p. %^. 

t Historical justice makes it worthy of mention that the initiative in 
the erection of this monument was taken by M. Doudiet d'Austrive of 
Rouen. 



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